Teen Wolf: Sabotage
by MarthaJonesFan
Summary: High school may be over for Scott and his friends, but there is no time to waste as a body is found in the woods of Beacon Hills, and Liam's firmly in the frame for his murder. Is Liam the culprit, or is there a bigger force at work? How will Isaac's return tie in? Teen Wolf: Sabotage is set after season 6A of the main show.
1. Runaway

Darkness. Daniel couldn't see a thing as he walked through the woods. He was stumbling home through the dark forests of Beacon Hills after a long night partying. The trees around Daniel seemed to be moving and out of focus, but he put that down to the high amounts of alcohol he'd consumed. Stubborn as anything, he'd refused a lift from his friend. Crackle. He heard a sound behind him, and turned his head – nothing in sight. He carried on walking, before he heard a twig snap. In a flash, he saw a shadowed figure running. Daniel began to panic. He took out his phone and started calling his mate Liam. The shadowed figure was getting closer, and closer.  
"Liam, help me, oh my god help me" he slurred into his phone, worried.  
"Daniel, hey, what's up?" he heard Liam reply through the phone. His question remained unanswered, until he heard the screams of Daniel. The phone dropped to the floor, followed by the slump of his now lifeless body.

* * *

 ** _Runaway_**

* * *

"So I was thinking we could have a movie night tomorrow, invite Malia and Lydia round, I could finally get you watching Star Wars" Stiles Stilinski rambled as he drove his jeep towards the woods of Beacon Hills.  
"I guess it's been a long time coming, although let's not pretend you want me and Malia there" Scott McCall smiled. The two of them had just finished high school for good and college was beckoning after the summer. They planned to make the most of their time together before they parted ways to study at different colleges, although Stiles' mind was now pre-occupied with Lydia.  
"Now now Scott, let's not jump to any conclusions. Not that I'm saying you're wrong" Stiles was humorous in his reply, trying to ignore the topic.  
"This body…what do you think did it? Scott pondered. They'd overheard a message from the police about a body in the woods, and naturally, they just had to investigate.  
"I don't know. Maybe for once it's not supernatural" Stiles replied.  
"When are things ever that simple?" Scott joked.

In the forest, Sheriff Stilinski and Deputy Parrish were inspecting the body that was found. They were able to identify it as Daniel Perkins, a sophomore year Beacon Hills High School.

"They look like claw marks" Parrish observed, "Do you think we need to call them?"  
"I don't think we have much choice" Stilinski sighed.

Meanwhile, an 18 year old lad arrived at Chris Argent's flat. He wore a scarf around his neck despite it being summertime, and he had a rucksack packed full of stuff over his shoulders. He pressed on the doorbell in anticipation. The door clicked open and Argent stood in front of him.  
"Isaac!" he exclaimed.  
"Did you miss me?" Isaac smiled.

The jeep pulled up at the crime scene with a huge screech. Sheriff Stilinski ran up to greet his son.  
"How did you get here so fast?" he asked.  
"We were kinda already on our way" Stiles replied sheepishly.  
"Were you listening to confidential police matters _again_?" Stilinski questioned as he grabbed Stiles by the ear.  
"Err, definitely not. Absolutely not" lied Stiles.  
"This is a serious incident, a murder investigation in fact" Stilinski was annoyed.  
"Sheriff" Parrish called for his boss. Stilinski let go of Stiles and walked over. Stiles breathed a sigh of relief. However, when Stilinski walked back a minute later, the relief turned to worry.  
"We just found Daniel's phone, buried under some leaves. The last person he called…" Stilinski tailed off as he held the phone out, in a sealed bag to protect evidence, to Scott and Stiles.  
"Liam!" Scott panicked.

"Lydia honey, your friend's here" Natalie Martin shouted up to her daughter.  
"Who is it?" Lydia shouted back down.  
"It's me" a voice said. It was Malia, peeping round the door.  
"Come in" Lydia smiled, "What's up?" Malia looked glum.  
"You're all gonna be having a great summer, and I've got summer school" Malia sighed.  
"That's not so bad, it's better than being held back at high school for another year. I'll help you catch up. What's really the matter?" Lydia queried. She could tell Malia was holding back.  
"So what's the deal with you and Stiles?" Malia switched topics.  
"Erm, it's complicated. But I guess we're giving it a shot" Lydia was coy as she admitted this to Malia. Malia grinned, knowing it had been a long time coming.  
"Are you going out on a date soon?" she continued to pry.  
"Stop it!" Lydia blushed, "We've not discussed anything yet. Besides, you'll have to try harder if you're going to change the subject."  
"Now who's changing the subject?"  
"Sweetie, I've been through enough emotional catastrophes to realise when someone's not telling me something" Lydia was sympathetic. Malia sat silent for a moment, finding the right words.  
"Peter" Malia reluctantly admitted, much quieter now, "He's trying to reach out, trying to be a father to me after all."  
"What's so bad about that?"  
"Aside from the fact he's a murderous psychopath?"  
"Fair point" Lydia replied. The two sat in awkward silence for a second – Lydia stumped for what to suggest.  
"Malia, I…" Lydia was cut off by the buzz of both their phones vibrating – a message from Scott, telling them to meet at the animal clinic.

Isaac left his giant suitcase in the hallway, before slinging his rucksack down on the floor and taking a seat on Argent's sofa.  
"Why are you here Isaac?" Argent asked, sitting opposite.  
"Am I not welcome? I could just leave" Isaac retaliated.  
"No, you know you're welcome, but I don't get why you thought you'd drop by and see me instead of hanging out with your friends?" Argent questioned.  
"I never really made any friends out in San Francisco, particularly with a couple of other werewolves taking a dislike to me. I was an omega there" Isaac opened up. The two shared a bond through Allison, Argent's daughter and Isaac's lover at the time of her death.  
"The lone wolf. I know how difficult that is" Argent was understanding.  
"I don't want to be the omega anymore. I want to rejoin Scott's pack" Isaac confidently stated.

Everyone had gathered around Daniel's dead body in the animal clinic. Scott, Stiles, Malia and Lydia were there, alongside Liam and his friend Mason. Dr Deaton led proceedings.  
"There's definite claw marks as you can see here" he began, "and there's a bite mark here. I've taken a sample from the wound to see if I can learn anything more, the results should be back tomorrow."  
"So do you think it was a werewolf attack?" Scott asked.  
"It's hard to say for sure, this test should tell me more. Whatever it was will have left some of its DNA behind when it bit into his skin" Deaton explained.  
"Anything you want to add, Liam?" accused Stiles.  
"Why would I know anything?" Liam was shocked.  
"The last person he called was you. Only you knew where he was" Stiles continued.  
"I barely knew him, I spoke to him at a party last night, he left before I did, he was totally out of it" Liam defended himself.  
"I can vouch for that, Liam was with me the entire night" Mason added.  
"It's not gonna do us any favours if we accuse each other" Scott spoke with authority, "We need to keep a cool head until we figure out who or what did this."  
While they were speaking, Lydia was examining the wounds in further detail. She picked up a pair of tweezers and grabbed a tiny hair out of the wound. She held it in the light.  
"This hair, it's lighter than any of yours. A blonder colour" she explained.  
"I can analyse that also, might help back up any conclusions we can draw from the swab" Deaton mentioned, "Scott, can you get hold of the Bestiary from Argent?"  
"Do you think it might be something we've not seen before?" Scott was alarmed by Deaton's change in tone.  
"Maybe. This hair doesn't look like that of a werewolf, although it's tiny and impossible to tell for certain. Like I said, the tests will give a clearer picture. In the meantime, why don't you all head home? I can see tensions have risen" Deaton reassured him. The group dispersed, with Liam speaking to Scott on the way out.  
"You don't seriously think I did this, do you?" Liam was worried that he was being framed.  
"No, course not, but we've got to stay on our toes because whatever killed Daniel is still out there. Make sure you stay safe" Scott spoke to Liam as a mentor figure.  
"I'll keep him safe" Mason interrupted.  
"Mason you can't even keep your cell phone safe half the time" Liam joked.  
"It's the thought that counts" Mason smiled.

Just a couple of metres away, Stiles and Lydia were talking to each other.  
"I was wondering, did you wanna, you know, hang out?" Stiles was incredibly sheepish.  
"Hang out?" Lydia replied, knowing full well what he meant but being too scared to make the first move.  
"Yeah, go for a movie or something, you know" Stiles bumbled. He was worried he'd blown his chance.  
"Sure" Lydia beamed. Stiles couldn't believe his luck. They were joined by Scott.  
"Guys, we gotta get to Argent pronto and pick up the Bestiary" Scott stated.  
"Sorry man, got a date with a hot girl" Stiles looked like the cat who got the cream as he strolled towards his jeep, holding hands with Lydia. Scott was gobsmacked, having seen Stiles' borderline obsession with Lydia since they were young.  
"Looks like it's just you and me" grinned Malia.

Mason gave Liam a lift back home. Liam slumped in the passenger seat, notably quieter than his usual self.  
"Liam man, ignore them, nobody really thinks you did it" reassured Mason.  
"It's not that, it's just, Daniel called me before he died. Why did he do that? Of all the people he could've phone, he spoke to someone he barely knew" Liam contemplated.  
"You wanna investigate?" Mason responded.  
"You bet" Liam perked up.

Scott and Malia arrived outside Argent's flat, ready to pick up the Bestiary. Malia stopped in her tracks, like she'd noticed something unusual.  
"What is it?" Scott asked.  
"A scent, a werewolf scent" Malia explained.  
"Who is it?"  
"I don't know, you try"  
Scott sniffed, using his supernatural abilities to pick out any new scents nearby.  
"But that's…" Scott was interrupted by the door opening.  
"Hey Scott, long time no see" Isaac said as stood in the doorway.

"Any movies you want to see? I mean there's this new sci-fi one with robots and, well, it's probably a bit geeky for you, but there's this rom-com that you might like, although it looks incredibly soppy, and…" Stiles barely stopped for breath, panicking while driving as he tried to impress Lydia. She cut him off mid-sentence.  
"Stiles, you're trying too hard. Just relax. I'll tell you what, let's ditch the movies and go for dinner" Lydia suggested.  
"Dinner would be cool" Stiles was calm now, "Did you wanna go home and dress up?"  
"Is there something wrong with what I'm wearing?" Lydia queried.  
"No, not at all, I just thought you might, you know" Stiles quit while he was ahead and composed himself again, "No, you look beautiful." Lydia smiled from ear to ear.

Scott and Malia entered Argent's hallway, stood opposite Isaac.  
"What are you doing here?" Scott asked, slightly worried.  
"Nice to see you too" Isaac remarked.  
"No, but you were in San Francisco, you said you'd never return to Beacon Hills after Allison, why are you back now?" Scott was confused.  
"Times change" Isaac bluntly stated, before looking at Malia, "It's Malia isn't it? We barely met before I left. Nice to properly meet you." Malia snarled, not entirely trusting him. Argent walked in, dressed unusually smart in a dark blue shirt and grey trousers.  
"Mr. Argent, you look…great. Why do you look great?" Scott complimented him.  
"I've got a date with a beautiful woman. First one in a long time. Isaac will you be alright here tonight?" Argent explained.  
"Sure, looks like I've got company anyway" Isaac replied. Malia rolled her eyes and cut to the chase, looking directly at Argent.  
"We need the Bestiary, it's important" she stated.  
"It's in my office, turn left at the end of the hall and it's the first on the right. I'm already late so I'll see you later" Argent said before rushing out the door. Isaac showed the others into the living room, sitting down on the sofa.  
"Looks a little more than a visit" Scott noticed the huge suitcase plumped on the floor.  
"I guess it is" Isaac wasn't giving anything away.  
"Come on Isaac, I know something's up" Scott was quieter now, sympathetic in his tone. Isaac took a breath, before telling his tale.  
"When I moved to San Francisco, things were fine for a while, I was the new kid in school but I could handle that. It didn't last though, and things took a sour turn when the werewolves of the area caught onto me. I wasn't part of a pack anymore, I was a laughing stock" Isaac was upset.  
"Why now? I mean, you've been away for a year and a half" Scott pushed for more answers, knowing Isaac still wasn't telling them everything.  
"People started to be killed. The authorities put it down to animal attacks but the body count kept increasing. I didn't think much of it until one day, one of the werewolves said they found one of my hairs at the crime scene. Not just any crime scene either, one of their own pack" Isaac opened up.  
"Well did you do it?" Malia was less patient.  
"Of course not" Isaac snapped, "I kept my distance, minded my own business." Isaac was visibly scarred by the events. Scott put his hand on Isaac's knee to comfort him.  
"It's OK, you're here now. Why did you return?" Scott asked, with kindness in his voice.  
"They said they'd be coming for me, so I ran. I knew this was where I had to come to stay safe" Isaac confided. He was trying not to show his sadness but a tear slipped down his cheek. Scott hugged him, and Malia watched on, understanding his situation at last.

Meanwhile, Liam and Mason were parked outside Daniel's house.  
"This feels wrong. Breaking into a dead kid's house" Mason commented.  
"If you're worried about what Corey might think – what he won't know won't hurt him" Liam explained. Mason nodded, and Liam continued, "We need to find out more and this is the perfect place to start. Worry about your morals later".  
"See you in hell" Mason added as they got out of the car. The coast was clear, nobody was in sight, and there were no lights on in the house. Liam and Mason walked around the side of the house and spotted an open window, slightly above head height.  
"Give me a leg up" Liam demanded.  
"Liam I'm not your slave" Mason commented back.  
"Are we gonna spend the night stood outside arguing, or are we actually gonna get the hell on with this?" Liam's temper shone through.  
"Alright alright" Mason muttered as he got in position. Liam planted his foot in Mason's hands and got a boost up to the small stained glass window. Liam clambered through, planning his landing carefully having noticed the toilet was right below. He stood on top and pulled Mason through. After they composed themselves, they took their phones out and turned the torch option on – not wanting to turn the main lights on to attract attention. The duo got to business, quietly creeping through the house. First stop: the living room. It was a large room, with the sofa placed in the centre of the room on top of a brown rug. The walls were cream coloured, complete with a large TV mounted on the wall. Mason picked up a family photo.  
"Looks like he had a loving family" he commented. Liam walked over to look.  
"Mum, dad, two sisters" Liam added, "Let's go upstairs."

"Isaac, you mentioned killings" Scott added, remembering why he went to Argent's house in the first place.  
"Yeah, it started out as a random attack but more and more people were being murdered. It looked like animal attacks but to anyone in the know, it certainly looked supernatural" Isaac explained, regaining composure.  
"Didn't Lydia find a hair on that guy's body?" Malia was alarmed.

Liam and Mason crept up the stairs, making as little noise as possible so the neighbours wouldn't hear anything. When they reached the top of the narrow staircase, they were greeted by four doors – one on their left, one straight ahead and two on their right.  
"You take these first two, I'll do the other two" ordered Liam.  
"Why do I get the bathroom?" Mason queried.  
"A time and a place Mason" Liam brushed him off. Mason shrugged and proceeded to investigate the solitary room on the left. He pushed open the door, which squeaked louder than he wanted to. He shone his phone around. In the middle was a double bed, perfectly made, and opposite was a wardrobe. Timidly, he walked towards the wardrobe to open it up, terrified of what could be inside. He put his shaking hand on the doorknob, slowly inching the wardrobe open. Mason grabbed every last bit of bravery inside himself, bracing himself for what might be inside. He began to open the door.  
"Mason!"  
Mason almost jumped out of his skin, his hands flinched away from the doorknob and he looked to his right to see Liam.  
"Dude, that is NOT cool!" he whispered harshly.  
"I've found something in Daniel's room" Liam informed him before turning around and heading back. Mason followed, shaken but regaining composure.

"Maybe we could check out that new place in town?" Lydia suggested, "You know, the one that opened a couple of weeks back."  
"Sure, do you know the way?" Stiles asked. Lydia looked deep in thought.  
"Take the next left" she confidently said, staring straight ahead.

"We better get to Liam" Scott decided.  
"Who's Liam?" Isaac asked.  
"Long story, we'll tell you on the way" Malia said as they rushed out of the front door.

Creak! The floorboards of Daniel's house squeaked as Liam and Mason crept across the hallway to the far end, with Daniel's bedroom door ajar. Liam went in first, Mason apprehensively following. The room was perfectly tidy, unlike your stereotypical teenage boy. The bed was perfectly made, much like that of his parents, and there wasn't a speck of dust anywhere. Liam led Mason over to Daniel's desk, placed at the foot of his bed. Liam held out a piece of paper, printed from Daniel's laptop.  
"Look at that" Liam instructed. Mason took the paper and shone his phone light on it.  
"Werehyena" Mason muttered, in a tone of worry.

Lydia sat looking out of the passenger seat window of Stiles' jeep. She looked lost in thought as he drove them to their destination.  
"Lydia are you sure this is the right direction? I feel like we've, you know, missed the turning" Stiles queried.  
"Keep going" Lydia vacantly said.

Malia drove Isaac and Scott away from Argent's house. Scott was dialling Liam's phone.  
"Come on, pick up!" he was shouting at the phone, to no avail.  
"We've got to take this to Scott" Liam said, of the paper. As he and Mason turned to leave, they heard sirens outside, and panic set in.  
They ran downstairs, hoping to make a quick exit the way they came in. Mason went first, standing on the closed toilet lid in the downstairs bathroom. He heaved himself up through the window, just as the front door got bashed in.  
"Liam, we know you're in here!" he heard the familiar voice of Stilinski shout, although in a much more serious tone than usual. Liam was terrified, jumping onto the toilet seat and hurling himself through the narrow window in the nick of time.  
"Liam man, we're surrounded" Mason worried.  
"Run, you look out for yourself, I'll get away, don't worry" Liam ordered his friend.  
"But what…" Mason began to protest.  
"Go!" Liam shouted. Mason ran for his life, as Liam came face to face with Stilinski, who followed him back through the house.  
"Nowhere to run, Liam, let's get this over with" Stilinski was calmer as he approached him. However, Liam had other ideas, as his eyes glowed yellow and he leapt over the garden fence to his left. Stilinski ran back to follow him but wherever he looked, Liam had vanished.

Stiles and Lydia had arrived at the school. After the school year finished earlier that day, there wasn't a person in sight. Stiles parked his car and Lydia stepped out immediately.  
"When you said restaurant, this wasn't quite what I had in mind" Stiles remarked. Lydia ignored him and kept walking. Stiles followed her as she walked around the edge of the school, towards the lacrosse pitch. As they approached the centre of the pitch, it became clear. A figure in the middle of the pitch, slumped lifeless on the floor. Lydia stopped in front of it, horrified by the sight of a teenage girl with her throat slashed open.


	2. The Rescue

Panic and rush were in the air at Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital, which was full to the brim with doctors and nurses as a new patient was rushed in. Melissa McCall rushed in behind the stretcher, wearing a stunning red dress with her hair pinned up perfectly. She was greeted by Stiles and Lydia.  
"Who is she?" Melissa asked, wasting no time in getting to work.  
"Sarah Lewis, 17 year-old, seen her around the school corridors" Stiles explained.  
"Anything supernatural I need to be aware of?" Melissa continued.  
"I found her, but otherwise nothing we know of" Lydia replied.  
"Thank you both, I'll take it from here" Melissa said as she continued rushing through the hospital with the lifeless body of Sarah. Stiles and Lydia turned around and walked in the opposite direction, helpless while a young girl bled to death.

* * *

 ** _The Rescue_**

* * *

Liam was slumped in the animal clinic. It was nearing midnight by this time, and the place was empty. He was feeling lonely, upset and totally confused. He'd chucked his phone away in a nearby bin so it couldn't be traced, and took refuge in the clinic, despite knowing he can't stay there for much longer as it'd be one of the first places Stilinski would look.  
Meanwhile, Mason arrived at the hospital, having received a text from Stiles to meet him at the reception desk.  
"Where's Liam?" Stiles asked him upon arrival.  
"He's, err" Mason was unsure of whether to tell the story or not, "He had to go home, promised his mom he wouldn't be out too late" he lied.  
"Never stopped him before" Lydia remarked. In that moment, Scott, Malia and Isaac arrived. Stiles and Lydia were shocked to see Isaac for the first time in almost two years.  
"What is he doing here?" Lydia questioned.  
"Who is he?" Mason perked up, noticing the eye candy.  
"Isaac Lahey" Isaac introduced himself to an awestruck Mason, shaking his hand.  
"Mason" he smiled, before slapping his own face to remind himself of boyfriend Corey. Isaac turned his attention to Stiles.  
"Hi Isaac, good to see you've not ditched the scarf, have you washed it since we last saw each other?" Stiles remarked about Isaac's trademark scarf, positioned perfectly around his neck despite it being summer.  
"Nice to see you too Stiles, I hope you've not been possessed by any dark spirits since I left" Isaac retaliated.  
"Guys we've got more important matters right now" Scott scolded the pair for bickering, "What's the situation?"  
"We just found her lying in the lacrosse pitch" Lydia explained.  
"Your mom said she'd give us an update" Stiles added.  
"OK, guess we'll have to wait. Where's Liam?" Scott asked.  
"He had to go home" Mason lied again.

At the animal clinic, Liam was preparing to move on. The weather outside had gone south, and began tipping down with rain. Liam zipped up his hoodie and pulled his hood over his head. He crept round the back, hiding in the shadows where possible as he moved to his next location, wherever that may be.

Melissa re-joined Scott and his group, still wearing her red dress and high heels.  
"Mom, you look beautiful. Why do you look beautiful?" Scott was in awe at how his mother looked, not used to her being dressed up like this.  
"Thanks sweetie, I think. I was out on a date, but I got called in as they need all hands on deck" Melissa explained.  
"How is she?" Lydia asked.  
"We've stabilised her condition, the bleeding has reduced. Between you and me, she's healing pretty fast, do you know anything more?" Melissa directed her question at Scott.  
"No, I've never seen her before, but I can try and get a scent" he answered. Mason stayed silent, despite having found a piece of evidence in Daniel's room that could provide the key.  
"As for the rest of you, it might be a good idea to go home and get some rest. You might not have school tomorrow but you need your beauty sleep" Melissa instructed. The group disbanded as Scott followed his mum to the hospital room.

Liam made it to the Beacon Hills forest, where he decided to take refuge for the night. He had little in the way of home comforts, with only a water bottle that he took from the animal clinic. He was hungry, cold and soaking wet as the weather had still not picked up. He burst into tears, having held it in all night so far. There was nobody he could turn to, not without incriminating them too. He felt a hand on his shoulder all of a sudden, and took a frightened look up to his left. He saw familiar face Brett Talbot, another werewolf.  
"Need a hand?" Brett smiled.

"So, a date" Scott said to his mum as they entered Sarah's hospital room.  
"Don't sound so surprised" Melissa joked. Scott had a lightbulb moment as he connected the dots.  
"Are you dating Argent?" he asked, recalling Argent saying he was heading out for a date earlier. Melissa was shocked that he'd realised.  
"Have you got a problem with that? You know I'll always put you first honey" she explained.  
"No no, it's fine" Scott re-assured her.  
"I mean I know there's history there with Allison and everything" Melissa continued.  
"Mom, it's fine" Scott looked into her eyes, speaking out of care. Melissa smiled. They held the moment, mother and son sharing an innocent few seconds before they got back to business.  
"OK, can you get a scent?" Melissa asked, snapping out of the moment. Scott inhaled.  
"She's a werewolf" Scott confirmed, "These slash marks across her chest too, they look pretty identical to those on Daniel, except she's healing."  
"So you think they could be connected?" Melissa questioned.  
"Maybe" Scott answered, just as a new thought sprung into his mind, "Can we have a quick search over the body, there was a hair that Lydia found on Daniel that didn't match his own hair colour or length, OK Deaton's sent it off for analysis but there's only so much you can find out from that"  
"You're inferring it got planted on him?" Melissa pieced the information together.  
"I think so, and the evidence so far is pointing towards…" Scott was cut off as Stilinski burst through the doors with Parrish in tow.  
"Scott, where's Liam?" Stilinski queried.

"Come with me, I can give you somewhere to stay" Brett explained.  
"You can't be seen with me" Liam protested against his kindness.  
"We'll keep in the shadows then. I'm not leaving you out here on your own, in a storm like this" Brett continued. Liam obliged, following Brett through the woods.  
"So what's the story?" Brett asked.

"He didn't do it!" Scott yelled at Stilinski.  
"Scott, we've got conclusive proof that the hair on that boy's body matches Liam's DNA" Stilinski explained.  
"I know Liam, and I know there's no way he'd have murdered his friend" Scott continued to protest, "Wasn't he at the party with Mason?"  
"I spoke to the girl who organised it and she said she didn't see either one of them, we're investigating further but a kid with anger issues missing on the night his hair was found on a dead body, it's not looking good" Stilinski explained calmly, "So do you know where he is?" Scott was left confused, feeling a lot like he'd been kicked in the stomach.  
"Mason said he had to go home" Scott scrambled to put some words together, "But now you mention it, Mason was acting pretty weirdly."  
"Is it something supernatural?" Parrish asked.  
"I don't know, but I'd take a good guess at yes" Scott replied. As he finished his sentence, he felt a hand clench his wrist tightly. He turned around quickly, and saw that Sarah had woken up.

"What's the deal, Liam?" Brett asked as he closed the front door to his house.  
"I told you, it's nothing" Liam protested.  
"I know you're lying, your heart is beating like mad" Brett replied. Liam sighed.  
"I'm…on the run" Liam reluctantly admitted.  
"Steal a bottle of pop did you?" Brett laughed.  
"It's not a joke!" Liam became angry, before breathing and calming himself down, "It's for a murder investigation, the Sheriff's after me, but I didn't do it, I swear."  
"I believe you" Brett was sympathetic.  
"You do?" Liam was surprised.  
"Your heartbeat was still. I believe you" Brett repeated, with a friendly smile on his face.

Mason paced around in his bedroom, worried sick for Liam. He wanted to go and look for him, but he wouldn't have the first clue where to begin. He took his phone out of his pocket and opened his contacts. He hovered over Corey's number for a few seconds, but closed the app when he saw the time was 3am. He slumped on his bed and tried to sleep, but deep down, he knew he had a rough night ahead.

Also having a sleepless night was Hayden Romero, Liam's girlfriend. Every night, without fail, she'd receive a goodnight text from him, but she'd not heard a peep out of him that night, leading her to believe something was wrong.

Sarah was breathing heavily, as if she was clinging onto life by a thread.  
"W…w…" she tried to speak.  
"It's OK, don't say anything" Scott comforted her, taking hold of her arm. His black veins came into view, as he took away her pain as an act of kindness.  
"Wer…" Sarah continued.  
"Don't speak honey, it's not gonna help" Melissa tried explaining.  
"Werehyena" Sarah finally said, before her eyes became lifeless and her breath ran out. Scott looked horrified as he stared at her totally still body, with only one word spinning around his mind in the moment.

Liam was curled up on Brett's bedroom floor, sleeping peacefully, putting his worries aside until the morning. The door was shut and Brett was outside, speaking on the phone.  
"Yeah, he's here" Brett revealed.

Surrounded by nothing but the dark, Lydia was walking through an alleyway. The rain was tipping down on her, leaving her red hair drenched and her nightie sopping wet. This alleyway seemed to be pretty long, with no clear end in sight. She kept walking, however. She was surrounded by brick walls, walls that seemed to be getting closer and closer to her, moving inwards. Finally, after a couple of minutes of walking down this strangely long alleyway, she saw a figure. Not that of a human, for sure. It was on four legs, but there was too little light to tell any further details. She timidly moved in closer and saw the black spots on its yellow fur, before focusing on its huge teeth. Then, right in front of her eyes, it shifted shape. The creature became humanoid, but with a difference. Those spots and teeth were still present. She was a metre away now, and the creature let out a huge roar in Lydia's face, before she woke up in her bed and let out the loudest scream you've ever heard.

The rain continued throughout the night, slamming against Isaac's bedroom window. He was fast asleep, but completely unsettled as he fidgeted the entire night, almost as if he was experiencing a nightmare. Unknowingly, he had his werewolf claws out, and he dug them into his chest, allowing the blood to seep out all over the bed.

8am. Liam stirred, waking up on Brett's bedroom floor. Brett's bed is empty, so he decides to make a quick getaway. He picked up his jacket and headed for the door, but a familiar face blocked it.  
"Going somewhere?" Scott asked.  
"How did you find me?" Liam was annoyed.  
"I followed your scent" lied Scott.  
"You lied" Liam replied, "Your heart's beating really fast."  
"Alright, Brett called me, but don't be annoyed, he was worried about you" Scott confessed. Liam turned around, his wolf eyes glowing yellow, as he ran to jump out of the window. He landed smoothly, but was handcuffed instantly by Stiles and Malia, who were hiding by the front door.  
"Nice try" Stiles remarked.  
"I didn't do it!" Liam protested, trying to shake off the handcuffs.  
"Liam, we're not arresting you, we're trying to help" Malia added. Liam calmed a bit and co-operated.  
"Has anyone managed to get hold of Lydia or Isaac?" Scott asked, re-joining the group.

Lydia had barely moved from her bed all morning. She was traumatised by her dream, although she knew it wasn't really a dream and more a banshee premonition. Her phone had been buzzing all day but she was purposely ignoring it. There was a knock on the door, and Natalie entered the room.  
"Lydia sweetie, are you feeling OK? You don't look too good" she said. Lydia looked towards Natalie and nodded, barely moving but enough to get her point across clearly.  
"Do you want me to call Scott?" Natalie continued. This time, Lydia shook her head.  
"OK honey, you get some rest" said Natalie as she stood up and left the room, closing the door behind her. She despaired, unsure of what was best for her daughter.

Scott, Stiles and Malia had taken Liam to Argent's house, knowing he has the means to keep Liam safe for the short-term. Argent answered the door and invited them through.  
"Where's Isaac?" Scott asked.  
"In his bedroom, hasn't been out yet, I guess he's still asleep" Argent replied.  
"I'll go check on him" Malia decided. Scott and Stiles escorted Liam into Argent's basement and tied him to a chair.

Malia walked up to Isaac's room and knocked on the door, but there was no response.  
"Isaac!" she called. Still no response. She pressed down on the doorknob and entered Isaac's bedroom, horrified at what she saw. There was black blood draping the sheets, with Isaac looking barely conscious despite his supernatural healing powers. She ran to his side, and pulled his claws out of his stomach.  
"Isaac, wake up!" she called, holding his cheeks. He didn't respond.

"Are you sure that's gonna be secure enough? He can be pretty aggressive when he wants" Stiles asked. Liam was surrounded by four lighted pillars, less than a metre high each, laid out in the corners of a square with Liam's chair sat directly in the middle.  
"Absolutely" Argent replied, "The ultrasonic emitters are going to be painful for any supernatural lifeform, so you better head upstairs" he continued, looking at Scott specifically. Scott nodded and headed back up, while Stiles stayed with Argent to keep an eye on Liam. Argent pressed a button on one of them and turned them on, lights flashing around the top. Liam immediately looked hurt by the noise, a noise that was so high in frequency that only supernatural creatures could hear. Argent and Stiles were totally unaffected, watching as Liam squirmed, unable to cover his ears.  
"Turn it off, please, I promise I won't try to escape" Liam pleaded.  
"It's for your own good" Argent explained.  
"Do me one favour at least" Liam continued, his yellow wolf eyes now on show, "Call Hayden."

"Malia?" Scott called as he reached the top of the basement stairs. He strolled up the corridor to the living room, but no sign of his friend. He called out once again, but no response. He walked back up the corridor, and just a few steps away from Isaac's door, he heard a cry for help.  
"Scott!" Malia shouted. Scott wasted no time in rushing into Isaac's bedroom. He was still unconscious, but the wounds had begun to heal. Scott knelt down next to Malia, in front of Isaac.  
"Isaac, can you hear me?" Scott spoke to him. Isaac came round, opening his eyes a fraction.  
"Scott?" he slurred, still barely conscious.  
"It's OK, you're healing" Scott encouraged him, before looking at Malia, "What happened?"  
"I found him like this, his claws were dug into his chest" Malia explained, still shaken.

Mason heard a knock on his front door, and went to answer it. It was Corey.  
"Where have you been? I've been trying to get hold of you, you're not returning my messages" Corey skipped the pleasantries and started the interrogation.  
"I'm sorry, things have been crazy" Mason vaguely explained.  
"What's up? You can talk to me" Corey adopted a more sympathetic tone.  
"It's Liam, he's got himself into trouble and I've got no idea where he is. We found this" he took the now-crumpled piece of paper about the werehyena out of his pocket. Corey stared at it, slightly worried by what he was reading.  
"Have you shown this to Scott?" Corey asked.  
"Not yet" Mason replied.  
"Let's not waste any more time" Corey suggested.

Liam was struggling, trying to escape the ropes that tied him to the chair. Stiles and Argent watched on in despair, when Stiles felt his phone vibrating sharply in his pocket. He took it out and looked at the screen, where the word "dad" was lit up. He answered the call.  
"Hey dad" Stiles greeted.  
"Stiles, where the heck are you?" Stilinski interrogated.  
"I'm at home" Stiles sheepishly answered, thinking his dad would be at work.  
"Well I'm at home and I don't see you" Stilinski angrily replied.  
"Have you…checked behind the sofa?" Stiles joked. While this was happening, the ropes around Liam's arms were beginning to break, and Argent was re-tying him down with new ropes.  
"That noise, it's so painful" Liam cried.  
"I know, just stay calm, it's a better option than being sent down for murder" Argent calmly explained.  
"Is that Argent?" Stilinski said on the other end of the phone, hearing the familiar tones of Argent's voice.  
"No, definitely not" Stiles lied once again.  
"Sit tight, I'm coming over" Stilinski ended the call. Stiles sighed.  
"We need to get him out of here" Stiles commanded.

Ding dong! The doorbell to the house rang. Scott went to answer it. He flung open the door and Hayden stood in front of him.  
"Where's Liam?" she asked immediately and furiously.  
"He's in the basement" Scott replied, and Hayden strolled past. He continued, "You know he's on the run, right?" Hayden stopped in her tracks and spun round.  
"Wait, what?" she was confused. She calmed down and moved closer to Scott, "Why?"  
"He's been set up, we're keeping him safe here" Scott answered.  
"There was me worrying about him not returning my calls. Really puts it into perspective" Hayden reflected.  
"It's OK, we're working on it" Scott comforted her. Hayden smiled and walked down to the basement, just as the doorbell rang again. Scott opened it once again, and was met by a face he didn't recognise.  
"Hi" the man smiled. He looked the same age as Scott, a tiny bit taller, with straight blonde hair.  
"Hey" Scott replied, warily.  
"Does Isaac Lahey live here?" he asked.  
"Who's asking? Scott queried.  
"An old friend. He'll be pleased to see me" the guy smiled.  
"Sorry, you've got the wrong address" Scott lied and shut the door, but the guy put his foot in the door and kept it open.  
"Let's try that again, shall we?" he became more sinister in tone, "Does Isaac Lahey live here?" His face suddenly turned orange, with black stripes across, resembling a big cat, and his teeth grew into fangs.

Isaac was lying down in his bed while Malia tended to his injuries. He looked into her eyes while she cleaned up the black blood from his stomach. Her eyes met his when she looked up, holding the moment for a couple of seconds.  
"What are you staring at?" she asked.  
"Nothing" Isaac snapped out of it for a moment. Malia noticed his cut had totally healed, and pulled his shirt down.  
"All done" she smiled.  
"Thanks" he smiled back. They glanced at each other, and slowly, their heads moved towards one another's. Malia closed her eyes as her lips met Isaac, kissing him passionately. Isaac was still lying down and Malia positioned herself next to him with her hand on his cheek. They kissed for about 20 seconds before Isaac broke away, terrified.  
"What?" Malia asked.  
"He's here" Isaac said, more petrified than ever.


	3. The Saboteur

_The sun was shining over Dolores Park in San Francisco. Isaac Lahey perched himself on the grass, looking over the huge number of people filling the space there. It was a Saturday morning in the middle of summer, so families were making the most of the hot weather and spending it at Dolores Park. Picnics, games and sunbathing were occurring all around Isaac. He plonked his huge rucksack on the grass next to him and took in his sights. He locked eyes with a young lad a few metres away. He must've been a similar age to Isaac, with dark curly hair and a fringe that almost covered his eyes. Almost is the key word there, as Isaac noticed his eyes quite clearly – he could hardly miss the red glow._

* * *

 ** _The Saboteur_**

* * *

Scott backed off away from the door. The guy was following him, baring his fangs and ready for a fight. Scott's eyes glowed red and his face shifted into wolf form. As an alpha, Scott was used to fighting his enemies, and wouldn't be giving up easily if it meant he could protect his friends. The guy threw the first punch, but Scott grabbed his arm and threw him across the room, bashing into the door.

Terrified for his life, Isaac was planning to make his escape through the window, but when he peeped outside, he saw a familiar face blocking his exit through the front gate. He laid low and wasn't spotted, but he was panicking like crazy and Malia was concerned.  
"What is it, who's here?" she asked him.  
"We have to get out of here" Isaac ignored her, packing his stuff into his rucksack before picking it up and heading to the door.  
"Isaac!" Malia was more firm in her tone, "Speak to me." Isaac put his rucksack back down and turned around.  
"They're gonna kill us, just like they killed that guy in the woods, just like the others in San Francisco" he explained.  
"Who?" Malia questioned.  
"Werehyenas" Isaac said, with fear in his voice.

 _The young lad looked at Isaac for a while. Isaac felt uneasy, as if he was being warned off. He picked up his rucksack and decided to relocate. However, as he stood up, so did the lad. He walked towards Isaac.  
_ " _What brings an omega like you here?" he said upon his arrival.  
_ " _A fresh start" Isaac answered. The lad smiled.  
_ " _Casey" he introduced himself.  
_ " _Isaac"  
_ " _Nice to meet you Isaac. I'll have to introduce you to the rest of the pack. I'm not sure how they'll feel about a newcomer but as you've seen, I wear the pants around here" Casey explained._

The staircase down to the basement creaked as Hayden stepped slowly down it, blissfully unaware of everything happening above but preparing herself for what was happening below. She swung open the basement door and saw Argent and Stiles. They looked at her, smiled, then glanced at Liam, still in pain, struggling in the middle of the ultrasonic emitters. Hayden immediately rushed towards him.  
"Liam, are you alright?" she asked.  
"It hurts" he struggled to speak. Hayden looked at Argent.  
"Turn it off!" she ordered.  
"Like I told him, it's for his own good. He's no use to anyone running around Beacon Hills on the run" Argent explained.  
"He's in pain!" Hayden protested.  
"Then comfort him" Argent responded.

Lydia glanced at her phone. 23 missed calls from Stiles. She put it back on her bedside table and plumped her head back on her soft bouncy pillows. Her eyes closed as she tried to head back to sleep, feeling unable to go outside after her worrying premonition. However, her plans to sleep had failed when she heard shouting from her mum downstairs. Natalie was calling for help, and Lydia wasted no time in springing herself out of bed and running downstairs, still dressed in her nightie. As she reached the bottom of the staircase, she saw her mum sprawled out on the floor, not moving. She knelt down at her side and checked her pulse. To Lydia's relief, she felt a heartbeat still. Now her main focus was what attacked her. She had little time to work this out before THWACK! Lydia was knocked out stone cold by a baseball bat.

"What is a werehyena?" Malia asked.  
"It's what it says on the tin, you're a werecoyote, I'm a werewolf, they're werehyenas" Isaac tried to explain.  
"I know, but what does it mean? Why are you so scared?" Malia continued.  
"Scared?" Isaac focused on the wrong part of Malia's question.  
"You can't deny it" Malia scolded.  
"Alright, I'm terrified. They framed me for the murder in San Francisco. They're cold-blooded killers" he clarified.

 _It was Isaac's first day at his new school. He parked outside and strolled up to the doors, seeing so many fresh faces around him. He was excited and invigorated, knowing he had a chance to start again after losing Allison just a couple of months before. He walked into math class and spotted Casey immediately. Casey smiled and waved, inviting Isaac to sit on the desk next to him. Isaac obliged, putting his bag under the desk and pulling the chair out so he could sit.  
_ " _I'll introduce you to the others at lunch" Casey said. Isaac nodded before class began._

"Who were the others?" Malia asked.  
"His pack. He was the alpha. Much like Scott's pack, it wasn't just werewolves either" Isaac continued.

 _The canteen was heaving with students getting their lunch. Casey walked towards a table in the middle, with Isaac following sheepishly behind. There were two empty stools on one side of the table, both at the end. Casey sat on the innermost stool, leaving Isaac at the end of the row. Four others were sat waiting.  
_ " _Guys, this is Isaac" Casey introduced him. Isaac smiled.  
_ " _This the Beacon Hills kid?" a girl asked.  
_ " _Werewolf" another girl added.  
_ " _He was part of Scott McCall's pack, you know, the true alpha" Casey explained.  
_ " _You know Scott?" Isaac was surprised.  
_ " _Gossip travels fast. A true alpha is rare" Casey told him._

Scott meanwhile was continuing to fight off the blonde-haired lad in the hallway. Shirts were ripped and blood was on show on both boys.  
"Shoulda just answered my question" the guy remarked, ready to throw a punch at Scott.  
"Shoulda stayed away from me and my pack" Scott responded, catching his arm in the nick of time and twisting it round, almost certainly breaking it. The guy moved away in pain, but after a brief moment of wallowing, he composed himself and charged at Scott. Scott prepared for the attack but instead, the guy fell to the floor, having been tasered. He looked up and saw Stilinski.  
"Where the hell is Stiles?" Stilinski said.

" _Maddie" one girl introduced. Her loosely-curled auburn hair was flowing down her back, and her green eyes sparkled. She continued, "I'm a werecoyote."  
_ " _Hey, I'm Anita, a werewolf like you" the other girl jumped in. She spoke with a Nigerian accent, and her dark afro hair was tied back into a bun.  
_ " _I'm Shane, totally boring and human" one guy laughed. He had wavy dirty-blonde hair past his shoulders. The final guy stayed quiet during Isaac's first meeting with the pack.  
_ " _Oh, and this is Chad, he's a werehyena too" Casey mentioned. Chad glared at Isaac, before sweeping his blonde fringe away from his eyes…_

Parrish had put the blonde lad in handcuffs, and Scott knelt down next to him.  
"Who are you?" he asked.  
"Chad, a friend of Isaac's" Chad explained.  
"Strange kinda friendship you must have" Parrish remarked. Chad sniffed twice in Parrish's direction.  
"You've got a hellhound? Wow, you really have got it all covered. The banshee, the werecoyote, and the former host of a Nogitsuné" Chad spoke with arrogance.  
"What do you want?" Scott was losing his patience.  
"I'll tell you something you're missing. A werehyena. Why don't I join your pack? Then I can keep an eye on Isaac all the time" Chad ignored Scott and continued. Scott lost any remaining patience and grabbed him by the neck, pinning him against the wall.  
"Scott, don't do this!" Parrish tried to intervene. Scott's eyes glowed red, the alpha inside becoming visible.  
"What do you want?" Scott hissed.  
"I told you, I want Isaac" Chad smirked.  
"You've got him" came a voice from down the hallway. Chad looked to his right and saw Isaac. Malia was stood behind him, holding his hand.

The ultrasonic emitters had been turned off in the basement as Stiles and Argent prepared to move Liam.  
"Let me go, I can get out of here myself" Liam protested.  
"We've told you already, no way in hell" Stiles replied, "Now can you stop struggling as you keep stamping on my foot." Liam calmed himself slightly.  
"We're not leaving you. I'm not letting you run off ever again" Hayden emotionally told Liam. She kissed him, while  
Stiles looked at Argent, feeling like gooseberries. The moment was interrupted by Stilinski, who burst open the door. Liam and Hayden broke the kiss and immediately looked terrified.  
"Stiles, what the heck have you been doing?" Stilinski questioned.

 _The rest of lunch break proved to be plain sailing for Isaac, as he got on pretty well with Casey's pack. All of them except Chad, that is. After lunch, on the way to class, Isaac had a quiet word with Casey.  
_ " _What's up with Chad?" he asked.  
_ " _He's like this with new people, don't worry, he'll open up when he starts to trust you. He didn't speak to Maddie for two months after we met her" Casey explained.  
_ " _Guess I'd better enjoy the silence while I can" Isaac joked.  
_

"You've been harbouring a fugitive" Stilinski was furious at his son.  
"Dad, he didn't do it" Stiles retaliated.  
"I've been through this with Scott, the evidence suggests otherwise" Stilinski explained.  
"So you think the solution is to lock up an innocent boy because you can't be bothered to deal with the supernatural threat at hand here?" Argent proposed.  
"I'm just doing my job" Stilinski added.  
"Just give us time. We'll be able to prove it's not Liam" Stiles pleaded.  
"Alright" Stilinski replied.  
"I know you're gonna… wait, what did you say?" Stiles continued.  
"I said alright. Look, I just had to break up a fight between some guy and Scott upstairs. If something's going on, you guys need to get to the bottom of it and quickly. I'll hold off on Liam until then" Stilinski suggested.  
"Dad, I could kiss you. In fact, I'm gonna" Stiles spoke as he kissed his father on the cheek. Stilinski gave him a pat on the back.

While all of this was happening, Isaac was confronting Chad.  
"Why did you frame me?" Isaac spoke with confidence, having composed himself in advance.  
"You think I framed you? Why the heck would I do that?" Chad angrily replied, still sat on the floor in handcuffs.  
"Is there another reason why you're hunting me down?" Isaac interrogated.  
"You killed him. You killed Casey" Chad yelled. Malia looked in horror at Isaac, who looked visibly moved by Chad's words.

 _School days went by and Isaac integrated further into Casey's pack. Casey had become his best friend, someone who understood Isaac for who he was, which was something he'd feared he wouldn't find after leaving Beacon Hills. He'd also been staying at Casey's house, so he was part of a proper family for the first time in his life. Anita was the perfect shoulder to cry on, especially when it came up to the anniversary of Allison's death. Anita's older brother had died two years before she met Isaac, so she could sympathise with him. Shane on the other hand was the joker of the pack, someone who'd cheer Isaac up every day. Maddie was flirtatious, constantly going through boyfriends simply because she could – she was the hottest girl in the year. However, she'd started dating Isaac just a few months after they met, and had remained loyal to him the entire time. Furthermore, just as Casey had predicted, Chad did come round to Isaac. He was protective and extremely loyal over his friends, something Isaac admired in him. The main difference Isaac noticed between Beacon Hills and San Francisco was the relaxed atmosphere. Casey's pack didn't have to defend itself from other supernatural beings, and lived a relatively normal lifestyle, something Isaac welcomed after the numerous near-death experiences he'd had with Scott and friends. Isaac's life in Beacon Hills felt further and further away the longer he stayed in San Francisco, and he felt he had everything he needed – a normal life, great friends and a beautiful girl. Of course, things didn't stay that way forever. Regression to the mean dictates that life couldn't be all good, and Isaac knew this in the back of his mind. Killings began to be reported on the local news, initially described as a one-off rare animal attack but when more were discovered, at a more frequent rate, Isaac began to feel startled. However, he didn't expect one morning in spring break to find his body lifeless and covered in blood, as if he'd been ripped open with claws._

"Who is Casey?" Scott asked.  
"An alpha. The alpha of my pack in San Francisco" Isaac explained.  
"You said you were an omega? Why did you lie?" Scott was concerned for Isaac.  
"Because the truth is much more painful" Isaac confessed. Scott placed his hand on Isaac's shoulder as a sign of comfort, while Malia clenched his hand tighter.

 _Isaac's first thought was to call the police. He had to, it was the right thing to do, so he took out his phone and dialled 911, his hands shaking with shock. Then he called the others to let them know, deciding face to face would be better. Maddie, Anita, Shane and Chad arrived in Casey's living room, startled and uncomfortable when they noticed their alpha was missing. Isaac explained what he'd seen, and the others were stunned into silence, with grief and terrific sadness being displayed across their faces. Maddie sobbed, furious at the loss, pushing Isaac away when he tried to hug her but eventually giving in, allowing herself to cry on his shoulder. Chad didn't shed a tear, but he didn't say another word and ultimately left without a goodbye. The group barely saw each other for the rest of spring break. Isaac went to stay with Maddie so Casey's parents and sister could have room to grieve, but he kept replaying the moment over in his mind._

"There's more of them outside" Malia added.  
"Not any more" Parrish yelled from the doorway, having checked outside, "They must have scarpered." Stilinski arrived back from the basement.  
"Did you speak to Stiles?" Parrish queried.  
"Yup, he tested my patience as always but that's my son, I wouldn't have him any other way" laughed Stilinski. He turned to Chad and ordered him to stand up, before escorting him to the car and driving back to the station.

Back inside the house, Scott, Isaac and Malia had sat down in the living room.  
"Do you think it's true what he said? About not killing your friend?" Scott asked.  
"I don't know. His heartbeat remained steady but he's the type who could've learned to lie with ease" Isaac considered.

 _As the investigation into Casey's death began, Isaac grew apart from the others in the pack. Even when school resumed, they barely crossed paths any more. The police took DNA samples from Isaac and Casey's family, so they could rule them out of the investigation, but this is where things started to go wrong for Isaac. He was arrested for the murder, much to his confusion. The sheriff explained to him that they found a hair on Casey's body that matched his DNA sample, leading them to believe he was the culprit. Isaac was released when Maddie provided an alibi, but she remained sceptical.  
_ " _Don't go thinking I believe you. I just couldn't bear to see you rot in a cell" Maddie explained.  
_ " _You think I did it?" Isaac wasn't confrontational, just exceptionally hurt.  
_ " _Who else would it have been? Things became weird when you turned up. I can't associate myself with someone like that" Maddie said before turning and walking away, leaving a heartbroken Isaac outside the sheriff station._

Mason came storming into Argent's house with Corey in tow.  
"Scott, it's werehyenas" Mason panted, handing over the piece of paper.  
"I know" Scott calmly replied.  
"You…know? When were you thinking of telling us?" Corey jumped in.  
"I was too busy fighting one off" Scott laughed.  
"There's more though, just read this" Mason continued, still holding the piece of paper. Scott took it, as Liam and Hayden headed out of the basement.  
"Liam, what are you doing here?" Mason exclaimed.  
"Stilinski's said he'll give us a chance to prove my innocence" he explained.  
"What are we waiting for then?" Corey smiled.  
"See if you can find the other werehyenas, there were at least two more blocking the exit from the garden" Malia suggested. Liam, Hayden, Mason and Corey set off to work. They had no idea who they were looking for, or where they'd be, but all four were determined to get Liam off the hook once and for all.

Stiles and Argent joined Scott, Malia and Isaac after, the former breathing a sigh of relief.  
"Hard work?" Scott remarked.  
"Nah, keeping an angry hormonal teenage werewolf locked up is a piece of cake" Stiles smiled.  
"See if you can find anything of note in this" Scott handed over the piece of paper.  
"Werehyenas? What next, a were-ant?" Stiles jested.  
"Try and get hold of Lydia to help, she's not turned up yet" Scott suggested.  
"I've been trying to call her all day and she hasn't picked up. I'm starting to get worried" Stiles confessed. He turned around and headed for the door, and with Argent regressing to his office, the trio were finally alone to have an important chat.

 _Terrified of the reception he'd receive, Isaac went to collect his bag from Maddie's house. To his horror, she threw it out of the window. Isaac attempted to call Shane and Anita before he left, but neither picked up. His final resort was Chad, so he paid him a visit on the way. Chad opened the door to a down-trodden Isaac, but tried to close it again when he saw who it was. Isaac put his foot in the doorway, blocking it from closing.  
_ " _Hear me out" Isaac calmly said.  
_ " _Why should I? You're a murderer" Chad responded.  
_ " _I know we've not exactly been the best of friends, but surely you don't think I'm capable of this?" Isaac pleased. Chad growled at Isaac, who backed off and allowed for the door to be shut. Isaac was left totally alone, and there was only one place he could go for support – Beacon Hills._

"You didn't have to lie to us" Scott explained.  
"I was worried about how you'd react. My closest friends thought I was a killer, you guys had no reason to think otherwise" Isaac detailed.  
"You deserve better friends than that. What kinda friends would screw you over at the earliest chance?" Malia was being unusually sympathetic.  
"It's just…everywhere I go, death and destruction seems to follow me. The people closest to me always seem to perish" Isaac began to shed tears. Malia held his hand again, which Scott picked up on.  
"You've got us now" he comforted Isaac, "Anyway, it looks like you've moved on from Maddie already." Isaac blushed.

The door to Lydia's house was left wide open when Stiles arrived. He looked around, but nobody was in sight. Worried, he stepped inside the house, wielding the baseball bat he keeps in his jeep, and immediately saw Natalie lying on the floor, sparked out. He rushed to her and crouched down next to her.  
"Natalie! Natalie!" he called, but no response. He decided to check upstairs, knowing Lydia could be in danger. He crept slowly up the stairs, baseball bat primed. When he reached the landing, there was still nobody in sight. He checked every single room, cautious in case somebody was hiding, but no-one was there. Lydia's room was just as empty. Stiles now felt extremely worried and sick in his stomach. His hands were shaky but he took out his phone and called Scott.  
"She's gone" Stiles said bluntly, "Lydia's gone."


	4. Attention To Detail

The sound of a motor stopped as the car was parked. The door clicked open and out stepped Dr. Deaton. He looked up at his destination. In front of him stood the San Francisco sheriff station, and he had business to attend to. He casually strolled through the doors and up to the reception desk.  
"I need to speak to Sheriff Johnson" he spoke to the desk sergeant.  
"She's busy right now, if you'd like to take a seat" he replied.  
"It's urgent" Deaton firmly responded. The desk sergeant looked at him for a second.  
"I'll fetch her now" he said, almost as if he'd been scolded. He returned with the sheriff in tow.  
"Alan, it's been a while" Sheriff Johnson spoke.  
"I'd been meaning to call you Marie" Deaton responded, "How's the wife?"  
"I think we can skip the pleasantries, this clearly isn't a social call" Johnson wanted Deaton to cut to the chase.  
"The murders that occurred here, could I take a look at the evidence?" he asked.  
"I assume you're not going to tell me why a respected veterinarian like yourself needs access to such confidential information" Johnson remarked.  
"What do you take me for?" smirked Deaton. Johnson walked to the filing cabinet and handed him four folders of information.

Blurred colours was all Lydia saw as she opened her eyes. Her head was throbbing, and she was totally confused about where she was. Slowly, she regained focus, and all she could see was an abandoned warehouse. She attempted to get up, but she was tied up and couldn't move an inch.  
"Don't try to escape" came a voice from next to her. She looked to her left, and a young man was sat next to her. He must've been the same age as Lydia, but she wasn't paying much attention to the details as she gathered her surroundings.  
"Trust me, I've tried every trick in the book" the lad continued. Lydia finally looked at him directly, and saw a pretty face covered in blood marks, although there wasn't a cut in sight.  
"Where are we?" Lydia murmured.  
"I don't know" he sighed, "What's your name?"  
"Lydia" she tried to raise a smile, although it was difficult in the circumstances.  
"Nice to meet you Lydia, I'm Casey" he introduced.

* * *

 ** _Attention to Detail_**

* * *

"We're gonna find her, I promise" Stiles spoke to Natalie. She was awake now and being carted off on a stretcher towards the ambulance. Stiles walked next to her.  
"What if you don't?" Natalie was downtrodden with worry.  
"We will" came a voice from behind them. It was Scott, who'd just arrived with Malia and Isaac. Natalie was lifted into the ambulance and taken away.  
"What's the plan?" Stiles asked.  
"We catch her scent" Scott explained.

"Are we gonna split up?" Mason asked Liam.  
"You've seen these things. None of us stand any chance on our own, we stand a better chance as a pack" Liam responded confidently.  
"We have no idea what we're even looking for" Corey added, getting worked up.  
"Trust me, we'll know when we see it" Liam calmed his friend, "All hands on deck."  
"Where are we going?" Hayden interrogated.  
"I've got a hunch, trust me" Liam avoided the question, focusing on his senses as the group walked down the streets of Beacon Hills.

Lydia had given up trying to escape after it became clear that the ropes wouldn't budge.  
"What are we doing here?" she asked Casey."I don't know about you but I've got a fair guess about me" he confessed.  
"You know who brought us here?" Lydia was surprised.  
"You could say that" Casey vaguely replied.

"Are you sure we're going the right way?" Stiles questioned as they walked towards the high school.  
"This is where the scent is" Scott firmly replied.  
"Agreed" Malia added.  
"Same here" Isaac chirped in.  
"I was only asking" Stiles got defensive, "Just cause I don't have supernatural nostrils, you know."  
"What are we actually gonna do when we get there? They're hardly gonna leave her unguarded" Malia pondered.  
"Negotiate" Scott simply responded.  
"I was thinking I could take them on" Malia continued.  
"No, we can't. They've meticulously planned every detail. I'd love to blast their asses to hell but we can't do anything rash" Isaac spoke to her. As they approached the school, it was entirely empty, as you'd expect in the summer holidays. As they walked up to the front entrance, Scott turned to Isaac and Malia.  
"You two keep guard out here, we'll go get Lydia" Scott explained.  
"Be careful" Isaac warned. Scott shoved at the door and it opened, continuing to walk through with Stiles in tow.

At the animal clinic, Argent, Stilinski, Deaton and Melissa were stood around the operating table. In the middle of them was the pile of folders Deaton had retrieved.  
"Where do we even start?" Stilinski asked.  
"There's a lot here, we'd get through it much faster if we divided it between us, one folder each would work" Deaton suggested, "Everyone grab one each." All four of them took a folder in turn, and got to work immediately.

"You're kidding right?" Mason complained as he, Corey and Hayden stared at a crouched down Liam.  
"I'm not, give me a hand" Liam ordered. Mason bent down next to him and helped lift up the cover for a hole in the ground. They looked down the hole for a second.  
"What are we waiting for? Let's go" Hayden seemed strangely enthusiastic. She headed down the ladder to the tunnels running underneath Beacon Hills. Liam, Mason and finally Corey followed suit.  
"Now shall we split up?" Mason said, as they observed two different routes – one to their left, and one to their right.

Scott and Stiles trawled the familiar corridors of their high school.  
"Weird to think we only left here yesterday" Scott commented.  
"And now we're back already. Can't shake it off" Stiles joked. All of a sudden, Scott stopped in his tracks.  
"You got something?" Stiles asked. Scott simply looked to the classroom on his right…

Meanwhile, outside the school, Isaac and Malia stood around in a moment of pure awkwardness. Neither of them knew what to say to each other in that moment, but Isaac thought he'd take a gamble and start conversation.  
"Thanks" he muttered.  
"For what?" Malia responded.  
"For saving my life" Isaac continued. Malia smiled but didn't say anything. Isaac decided to continue the chat.  
"I've never met anyone like you before" he vaguely stated.  
"What do you mean?" Malia was confused, and slightly disinterested in what he was saying.  
"You're quick thinking, smart, strong" he listed. Malia payed little attention still, until Isaac finished his sentence.  
"…and absolutely beautiful" Isaac finished. Malia looked up to him, almost as if she'd been punched in the stomach.  
"What did you say?" she said, awestruck.  
"I said" he moved in closer, "You're absolutely beautiful." Malia blushed as she stared into Isaac's eyes and they kissed. Malia closed her eyes, savouring the moment, a feeling she'd not felt in a while now.  
"Interrupting something?" came a female voice from behind. Isaac spun round, and was aghast at who stood in front of him.  
"Maddie?" he uttered.

"Sorry the date got interrupted" Melissa quietly spoke to Argent, while Deaton and Stilinski were sifting through paperwork behind them.  
"I've had bigger disasters" Argent calmly replied.  
"So I'm a disaster now?" Melissa joked.  
"Hey, you know that's not what I said" Argent laughed it off. They paused for a moment, looking back at the piles of sheets in front of them both.  
"Scott knows" Melissa confessed.  
"You told him?"  
"He guessed, I couldn't lie to him, he's my son"  
"Don't worry, he was bound to find out sooner or later"  
"I was worried, because there's history, with Allison, you know"  
"Trust me, I know" Argent bluntly said, "Scott's a mature lad, there's a good head on his shoulders, and that's thanks to you." Melissa blushed.  
"Well it's not from his father" she laughed

It had been a couple of hours since Lydia woke up in this warehouse, or so she thought, at least. She'd barely uttered a word to Casey, who seemed friendly but she wasn't sure she could trust him yet.  
"Where are you from?" he asked her.  
"Beacon Hills, isn't that where we are?" Lydia responded.  
"I don't know. I must've blacked out because I was in San Francisco and then woke up here. We could be anywhere" he pondered.  
"That's optimistic. There's got to be some way of getting out, or calling my friends" the cogs in Lydia's brain began turning.  
"I've tried everything, I've howled, I even escaped out of this rope for a minute but they guard all the exits 24/7, there's no way we can get out" Casey despaired.  
"Howled?" Lydia picked up on the key word in Casey's sentence.  
"You might not believe it, but I'm a werewolf" and Casey's eyes glowed red.  
"An alpha" Lydia observed.  
"You know werewolves?"  
"You could say that. Kissed a couple of them too" Lydia had a spark in her eye for the first time since she arrived. While she knew she was in danger, she felt safer with someone friendly like Casey, who laughed at her comment.  
"You mentioned your friends? Are they werewolves?" Casey asked.  
"A couple are. We've got a werecoyote too, and I'm a banshee" Lydia explained.  
"You're a banshee? Wow, I've never met one before! I've heard all the legends, but I didn't think I'd come across one" Casey was shocked.  
"It has its pros and cons" Lydia smiled.  
"Maybe, just maybe, we have our way out after all…" Casey speculated.

The door to the classroom squeaked open, as Scott and Stiles inched it open. It was a science lab, totally empty with stools stood on top of desks after the cleaners had been in. However, on the middle desk, drooping around a chair leg, was a red jacket. Scott and Stiles looked at each other, before walking over towards it. Stiles then unravelled it and picked it up.  
"This is Lydia's, she was wearing it yesterday" Stiles mentioned.  
"This is where the scent leads" Scott added.  
"So where is she?" Stiles began to get agitated.  
"I don't know" Scott was angry, "We've been set up." He stormed out of the classroom, and an upset Stiles followed.

Meanwhile, Isaac was shell-shocked to see his old flame stood in front of him.  
"Didn't take you long to move on from me then" Maddie remarked.  
"You dumped me" Isaac retaliated, "Last time I checked, you didn't have the right to invade my private life."  
"I thought you murdered someone" defended Maddie.  
"Hold on, slow down, you thought? That's past tense" noted Isaac.  
"I need a word, about Chad" Maddie calmed herself, "In private, away from your new werecoyote lady friend." Malia growled and flung herself at Maddie, but Isaac put his arm out to block her.  
"I'll talk, but only if you promise to co-operate" Isaac made a deal.  
"Sure, whatever" Maddie agreed. Malia calmed down, but still made it very clear that she was unhappy about the situation by glaring at Isaac. At this moment, Scott came storming out of the school doors. He didn't say a word to Malia or Isaac, and just kept on walking. Stiles followed seconds later.  
"Where is she?" Malia asked.  
"She wasn't there" a glum Stiles admitted, "The scent led to her jacket. We've been set up."  
"I have an idea where they might be" Maddie piped up. Scott immediately stopped in his tracks and turned around.  
"Who are you?" he asked, calmer than before but still meaning business.

In the tunnels, Liam and Hayden had taken one route while Mason and Corey had taken another. Mason had taken this time to fill Corey in on his antics with Liam in Daniel's house after he'd died.  
"You did what?" Corey whispered as sternly as he could.  
"We had to figure it out, he wasn't supernatural, there's no reason for him to have been attacked that night" Mason pondered.  
"Not like it got you anywhere. You could've been arrested" Corey was concerned for his boyfriend.  
"I know, things still don't add up. Why did they kill him? The other girl, Sarah, she was a werewolf, there's no pattern" Mason thought aloud.  
"Why can't it just be random? Werehyenas on a killing spree doesn't sound too unlikely a story" Corey played devil's advocate.  
"They're calculated though, everything they've done so far has been planned to the last detail. They don't do things randomly" Mason debated.

Down the other tunnel, Liam and Hayden were having a similar chat.  
"You broke into a dead kid's house?" Hayden was aghast.  
"What? It's not like he'll know" Liam flippantly remarked. Hayden whacked him on the arm.  
"I actually can't believe you did that" she was shocked, but ultimately burst into laughter. Liam was totally confused.  
"Why are you laughing?"  
"You're so ridiculous, and it's why I love you" she grinned, and leaned in to kiss him.

"I've got something!" Melissa exclaimed. Everyone crowded round her as she laid out pictures of all the San Francisco victims, as well as Daniel and Sarah's injuries.  
"What do you notice about their injuries?" Melissa asked.  
"Well they've gotta hurt" remarked Stilinski, lost for any other suggestions.  
"Look really closely" Melissa continued.  
"They're all the same" Deaton noticed, and he was right.  
"Every injury across all of these people is the exact same, from the slashes to the chest, to the positions their legs are left in. Every element is identical" Melissa explained.  
"How could that be possible?" Stilinski wondered aloud.  
"I expect it's no coincidence. Every move the werehyenas have made so far has been meticulously planned, almost too perfectly, and this matches that pretty well" Argent added.  
"There's something not right though, because for something to be this identical, it's almost like they wanted us to notice" Melissa suggested.  
"It's a distraction" Deaton said, with a tone of worry.

"Where are we going?" Scott walked side-by-side with Maddie, who was on his left. At this hour, it was starting to get dark across Beacon Hills, and night time was beckoning.  
"There's an abandoned warehouse at the end of the road here, right?" Maddie asked.  
"Right…" Scott wearily confirmed.  
"Chad's mentioned it before. His father used to work there before it got closed down. He spent a lot of time as a kid playing in the office on sick days" Maddie explained.  
"Chad grew up in Beacon Hills?" Isaac chimed in, stood just behind them as they walked.  
"His parents came from here, but they moved to San Francisco when he was 10" Maddie continued.  
"So how long have you known him?" Scott queried.  
"Since high school. Long enough to know he's a total psychopath" Maddie confessed.  
"You can say that again" Isaac remarked.  
"He's always been a bit weird, but after Casey died, he seemed hell bent on revenge" Maddie explained, slightly worried.

Lagging just behind the group was Stiles and Malia, almost entirely disengaged from what was going on.  
"Is it just me who's starting to feel like a gooseberry?" Stiles remarked. Malia just rolled her eyes.

"Looking good man, nice to see ya" Casey smiled at the man who entered the room he and Lydia were tied up in. He didn't respond. Lydia took a look at his youthful face, but didn't recognise him. He simply left two bottles of water and a bowl of fruit between the two of them, and left. Once he was out of the room, Lydia turned back to Casey.  
"You know him?" she asked.  
"You could say that" Casey vaguely responded, as he just about managed to reach the bowl of fruit despite the ropes around his arms, and popped a grape into his mouth. A couple of minutes passed, of eating and drinking, and Casey suddenly moved his head towards Lydia.  
"OK, here's the plan" he whispered.

The long and winding tunnel just kept on going for Mason and Corey, with little in the way of clues to the location of any other werehyenas.  
"Why did Liam send us down here in the first place?" Corey asked.  
"It's the ideal place to hide. It's where I'd hide" Mason responded.  
"So it's a hunch" Corey deduced. At that moment, the duo heard footsteps around the corner. Corey grabbed Mason's hand and became invisible. They watched as a man in his 30s walked around the corner, with a book in his hand. They heard a door slam around the corner. When the man was out of sight, Corey let go of Mason's hand and they were visible again. They quietly crept around to see where he came from. In front of them was a large door. With their combined efforts, they managed to shove the door open, still making as little noise as possible. Inside was what looked like a small office, packed with books and sheets of paper. Mason noticed one particular book open on the dusty desk. The pages open had a rip in the middle, as if a page had been torn out.  
"Hold on, this is the same size…" the pieces slotted together in Mason's mind.  
"As what?" Corey was impatient.  
"The sheet we found in Daniel's room. He was here!" Mason was shocked at what he'd realise.  
"Who was here?" came a voice from the doorway. Mason and Corey both jumped out of their skin, before looking up and seeing it was only Liam, "The tunnels both led the same way then".  
"We need this book" Mason suggested.  
"What are you waiting for then? Let's take it and get the hell out of here" Hayden ordered.

As they approached the warehouse, Scott noticed the entrance was guarded.  
"We can't just stroll up" he expressed his concern to Isaac and Maddie.  
"Oh I think we can" Isaac said with a tone of realisation, as he saw who it was. They kept on walking, with Stiles and Malia still lagging behind.  
"What the hell are you both doing here?" Isaac said as he approached the two guards. They were Shane and Anita, Isaac's other friends from San Francisco.  
"You can't come in" Anita simply said.  
"What are you gonna do? It's five against two and even then, he's human" Isaac retaliated, directing the last part directly at Shane.  
"You think?" he said, as his skin turned orange with stripes and he showed a new set of fangs. Isaac moved back out of worry, but Scott stayed firm, now in wolf form with his true alpha red eyes on show. Just as he was about to jump into a fight, he heard an ear piercing sound coming from inside the warehouse. He covered his ears, as did everyone, but he knew exactly what it was.

Just metres away, Casey roared his absolute loudest, while Lydia let out her most ear-piercing scream. The combined force of their voices could be heard across Beacon Hills, with Liam and the others even hearing it as they made their way back above ground. As the scream stopped, Stiles managed to pick himself up off the ground and run past Shane and Anita, neither of whom had fully recovered from being so near to the incredible noise. Stiles ran through a couple of doors, frantically searching for Lydia, and sure enough, there she was, looking totally exhausted but nevertheless alive.  
"Lydia! I was so worried" Stiles commented as he ran towards where she and Casey were tied up.  
"Help get me out" she smiled, make-up running down her face as she was overcome with emotion. Scott followed him into the room, and uses his claws to break through the strong ropes.  
"Let's get out of here" Scott suggested, and the four of them ran through the otherwise empty warehouse. They reunited with Malia, Isaac and Maddie, who had regained their composure, while Anita and Shane were only just coming round.  
"Come on, they're waking up" Malia hurried the group, but Isaac and Maddie were frozen to the spot when they saw Casey approaching.  
"Isaac!" Casey was shocked to see his old friend staring back at him, but that was nothing compared to the mixed bag of emotions Isaac was feeling…


	5. The Reunion

"Do you know which language this is in?" Scott took the werehyena sheet out of his pocket as he entered the animal clinic. It was the morning after the night before, and following such a hectic night, the pack had managed a little bit of sleep. He was joined by Stiles and Lydia.  
"I've seen it before. The language is Kanuri, it's spoken in some African countries such as Nigeria and Cameroon, but I wouldn't understand a single word" Deaton explained.  
"Why don't we translate it?" Lydia took the paper and looked at Stiles.  
"Sounds like a plan" he smiled, and they went inside the main room with their smart phones at the ready. Deaton stood in the entrance area with Scott.  
"I hope you're aware of what you're getting into" Deaton gave some father-like advice to Scott.  
"Nope, but since when has that stopped me?" Scott smiled, confident but not cocky. At this moment, they were interrupted by Liam and Mason.  
"Scott! We've found this" Liam ran in like a young child excited to show his parents what he'd found outside. He handed the large dusty book over to Scott, who passed it onto Deaton.  
"This is one of the oldest Bestiaries I've seen" Deaton explained.  
"Will it help?" Mason asked.  
"Almost certainly" Deaton smiled.

* * *

 ** _The Reunion_**

* * *

Meanwhile, Scott's house was being used by Isaac. In the living room, he and Maddie sat on one sofa while Casey sat directly opposite. It was going to be a long morning, and Isaac still didn't feel as prepared as he wanted to. Malia was in the next room, on stand-by if Isaac wanted a comforting shoulder, but he was determined to see through this interrogation. However, none of the trio actually knew where to begin. None of them had prepared themselves for this moment, and none of them wanted to be the first to speak up. Casey eventually gave in and broke the silence.  
"You're looking good" he awkwardly stated, "Both of you."  
"Not so bad yourself. For a corpse" Isaac remarked. Casey piped back down again. A few more seconds of silence passed.  
"I didn't want to do this to you" Casey began again. He seemed sincere in his tone, and both Maddie and Isaac were open to listening.  
"I had to do what I did, they were coming for me otherwise" he continued.  
"Who was?" Maddie asked.  
"Chad. He'd started acting weirdly around me. I overheard a conversation he was having with someone."  
"I always knew he was shifty" Isaac commented.  
"He's more than shifty; I mean, this guy was telling him he had to kill me. So what did I do? I got one step ahead, faked my death, thought it'd throw him off the scent, and it worked, for a bit" Casey explained.  
"Why couldn't you tell us? We could've helped" Maddie asked.  
"If you'd have known, it wouldn't have been so convincing" Casey rather bluntly said.  
"Convincing? Is that all that mattered to you? Too busy saving your own ass that you couldn't spare the thoughts of your best friends?" Isaac raised his voice, feeling the emotions running high.  
"I...I didn't mean to upset you. I'm so sorry" Casey seemed genuinely regretful over his actions, having seen the effects on his friends.  
"Have you even thought about us?" Maddie queried, also upset.  
"Every single day. I've missed you guys so much. I didn't want to do this but I knew I had to" Casey justified. Isaac stood up and sat next to Casey. They embraced in a hug, and Isaac signalled to Maddie to join them. The trio had all calmed down and beyond anything else, they were thrilled to be reunited at last. Malia watched on from round the corner, and she smiled to herself. As the hug broke up, the trio were united once again.  
"Let's get to work" Casey smiled.

Scott arrived back at his house, having been given a lift by Liam and Mason.  
"Are you sure there's nothing we can do?" Liam asked.  
"I'm sure, you guys get some rest, we'll let you know if anything happens" Scott responded, and walked towards his front door. All of a sudden, he felt his phone vibrate – an incoming call from his mum. Scott answered the phone.  
"We've got another one" Melissa skipped the pleasantries and got straight to business. Scott was shell-shocked, thinking he'd nailed the killer in Chad.  
"OK, we'll be right there" Scott answered, ending the call. He looked at Liam, who had noticed the phone call and stood waiting by the car.  
"We need to get to the hospital" Scott simply commanded.  
"We'll go, you check up on Isaac and Malia" Liam offered. Scott smiled and headed towards his front door.

"Kanuri's not on Google Translate. This is gonna take a while" Stiles explained, now feeling downtrodden.  
"So what are we waiting for?" Lydia smiled, taking the piece of paper back out of Stiles' hand and sitting down at the central desk.

Click! The front door shut and Scott walked cautiously towards his living room, slightly worried for what he might find. He hoped deep down that Isaac and Casey had managed to talk properly but was half expecting to find them fighting, knowing Isaac's "shoot first, ask questions later" approach. As he got closer, he began to hear laughter.  
"Do you remember that time at school, when you were sent to the principal's office?" Scott heard. It sounded like Maddie, and laughter followed.  
"Oh my god, don't remind me" another voice followed. This was Isaac, sounding embarrassed.  
"Your phone rang in class, which is bad enough as it is but Justin Bieber as your ringtone? Come on Isaac!" Maddie laughed.  
"Made even better by the fact I was the one calling you" Casey chimed in. Scott was smiling to himself listening to their conversation.  
"Don't worry, they're all still alive" came a voice from right behind Scott. He spun round and saw Malia. She continued, "I've been keeping an ear out, thought I'd leave them to it for a bit."  
"Nice job" Scott commented, over the sound of their laughter, "They seem like such a tight pack."  
"You know he'd drop them in a second to rejoin you, right?" Malia sensed Scott's jealousy over Isaac's new found friendships.  
"It won't come to that" Scott stated firmly.  
"I know" Malia responded, "I was just saying, you're his idol. He looks up to you and always has. Same for all of us." She smiled, and Scott smiled back.  
"Scott, is that you?" Isaac shouted from the living room. Scott and Malia both walked in, joining the group.  
"I see you've resolved your differences" Scott commented. Isaac grinned at Casey, overjoyed to have his friend back.

The mood was less joyful at the hospital. Melissa stood next to the bed of a young girl. On the opposite side of the bed stood Liam, Mason, Hayden and Corey, anticipating Melissa's explanation.  
"OK, her injuries are exactly the same as Sarah's. It's almost freaky to see the attention to detail in these cuts" Melissa detailed.  
"Will she be alright?" Hayden asked.  
"I think she'll pull through, but she's looking incredibly weak. Sarah's the same, her injuries have healed but she looks hugely malnourished, despite eating and drinking as she should. I've never seen anything like it" Melissa answered, confident of what she was saying but with a tone of fear in her voice.  
"Is this girl supernatural?" Corey queried, "We know Sarah's a werewolf but Daniel was human."  
"She's a werewolf" Liam identified from her scent, plus the rapid rate of her wounds healing.  
"All of the casualties in San Francisco were followed by reports of wounds healing at an exponential rate, much like any werewolf" Melissa continued, "What's interesting though is that all of them died. Sarah and this lady right here are both looking to pull through, although I have no idea why they're so weak.  
"I thought Chad was locked up at the sheriff station?" Mason commented.  
"He is" Liam confirmed, "Which means someone else is helping him." They all looked down at the young girl, lying helpless on her hospital bed, with none of them even knowing her name...

The tension in the animal surgery could've been cut with a knife, as Stiles and Lydia sat in silence with their phones out, trying to translate the text from the werehyena sheet. They'd barely spoken to each other about Lydia's kidnap, unsure of what to say to each other. Stiles decided to speak up first.  
"I was worried" he confessed. Lydia looked up.  
"Me too" she replied.  
"Like, I was really, really worried. I thought something bad had happened to you and I was never going to see you again" Stiles continued.  
"Me too" Lydia repeated, appreciating Stiles' concern.  
"If I never got to tell you, you know" he stumbled over his words. Lydia looked right into his eyes, knowing what he was trying to say but waiting for the words. Stiles resumed, "If I never got to tell you how much I love you, I'd be devastated." Lydia gave a little smile, visibly moved by Stiles' words.  
"Me too" she said one final time, as she put her hand on his. A tear ran down Stiles' cheek and onto Lydia's hand.  
"Look at us" Stiles laughed, "Who ever thought that the nerdy kid would get the most popular girl in the school?"  
"We've come a long way since then. Aren't I the slightly weird nerdy girl with the excellent fashion sense these days?" Lydia joked.  
"Half of that sentence was correct" Stiles flirted.

The familiar tone of Scott's mobile rang as he was sat in his living room. It was Liam, so he answered it.  
"Scott, you've got to talk to Chad. This girl has the same injuries as Daniel and Sarah, to the tiniest detail. She's alive but seems drained of energy, much like Sarah. Someone's got to be helping him, with whatever he's doing" Liam explained, quite frantically.  
"I'll get down there now. Stay calm, do all you can to help my mom" Scott commanded to his beta. He ended the call.  
"Let's go" Scott sprung into action and Malia, Isaac, Casey and Maddie all followed suit, towards Malia's car parked outside.

"Scott's on it" Liam reported to the others after the call ended.  
"So what do we do?" Hayden asked, "We're sitting ducks waiting for the next attack."  
"We're not sitting ducks, we're gonna help save lives. Melissa, is there anything we can help with?" Liam asked. Melissa was about to answer but was interrupted by an alarm going off down the hallway.  
"Stay here" she commanded before rushing off. The pack looked at each other, unsure of what was happening.

The sound of Malia's car engine roared loudly as it ripped down the streets of Beacon Hills, heading towards the sheriff station as fast as possible. Isaac sat in the passenger seat to her right, with Casey directly behind, Maddie in the middle seat and Scott behind Isaac. She could hear Maddie talking but wasn't paying much attention to what she was saying, focused only on the road ahead, and the goddamn red lights that kept stopping her.  
"So you're a true alpha?" Maddie spoke directly to Scott in the back, almost as if they were the only two in the car.  
"Yeah, I guess" Scott wasn't sure how to respond.  
"Show me those red eyes" Maddie's flirting was obvious, and Scott felt slightly awkward, despite Maddie's obvious beauty.  
"Maddie, give it a rest" Casey interrupted.  
"What? I'm just being inquisitive" Maddie hit back.  
"That's how it started for us" Isaac joked.  
"Can you stop talking? I'm trying to concentrate" Malia whined at Isaac.  
"I was just..." he tried to protest.  
"Well don't" Malia cut him off instantly.  
"What's up?" Isaac asked quietly.  
"Nothing" Malia responded.  
"Malia, I've only known you a few days, but I can tell when you're lying and you're most certainly not telling me the truth right now" Isaac sussed her out.  
"You and her" Malia quietly said, in the knowledge that conversation in the back had moved on and the others were not paying attention.  
"We're over" Isaac reassured.  
"Cause she thought you were a murderer" Malia retaliated.  
"We're still over, don't worry. There's only one werecoyote for me" Isaac smiled. Malia seemed to calm down. They were sat at a red light, and she looked straight at him.  
"People have let me down my entire life. Please don't join my very long list" she asked of him.  
"You have my word" Isaac lovingly said.  
"I think I'm gonna puke" Casey butted in, having heard some of their chat.  
"Leave it out" Isaac laughed. Malia was barely paying attention, smiling to herself as the light turned green.

"I've got it!" Stiles shouted in joy. Lydia and Deaton crowded round him, as he held out the sheet of paper with his phone in his hand.  
"This bit here, it says 'bultungin', that translates as 'I change myself into a werehyena'. It sounds almost voluntary, but where it gets interesting is the next part, which talks about how a hyena can turn itself into a man" Stiles explained.  
"I don't get it" Lydia was confused.  
"With werewolves, they can only transform from human into wolf, right? Werehyenas can sometimes be the other way round. Hyena into human" Stiles continued.  
"So Chad might have been born a hyena" Lydia concluded.  
"That could be bad news for us" Deaton was concerned, "If he was born and raised as a hyena, that means his animal instinct is likely to be stronger. Take Scott, he's lived his life as a human, so the urge to remain human is constantly there in the back of his mind, but for Chad, it's the opposite."  
"There's no humanity holding him back. He'll do anything" Lydia worried.

10 minutes had passed and there was still no sign of Melissa returning to Liam and his pack. Hayden had been tending to the newest victim, holding her hand and telling her she'd be alright, even though she was unconscious. Liam sat directly next to her.  
"I'm scared" Hayden confessed.  
"Why? You've got nothing to be scared of, that's my job" Liam comforted her.  
"But this could be any one of us. Lydia's been kidnapped already, what if I'm next? I might end up lying on one of these hospital beds, unconscious" Hayden started to cry.  
"I won't let that happen" Liam said, placing his hands on her cheeks, "I promise you." He wiped away her tears and hugged her.

Across the room, Mason and Corey were sat on the floor. Mason looked deep in thought.  
"What's on your mind?" Corey queried.  
"Nothing seems to add up yet. Everything feels so calculated. Liam and Isaac being framed, the injuries being identical to the tiniest detail" Mason thought aloud.  
"You don't have to solve it all you know" Corey was worried.  
"I can't help it, I'm trying to find the logic in this but everything feels so random, yet so planned at the same time" Mason carried on wondering. At this moment, Melissa rejoined the group, looking solemn.  
"What is it?" Liam asked.  
"Sarah. She passed away" Melissa regretfully informed them, "We did all we could, but nothing seemed to work, the doctors are baffled."  
"We need to work out a way to save her" Hayden commented, referring to the young girl lying helpless on the hospital bed.  
"I can take her pain?" Liam suggested.  
"She's not in pain, her wounds have healed. The problem is with her energy levels. She's being fed through a tube but there's no change in her strength" Melissa detailed. All of them felt helpless.

Scott led the group up to the sheriff station, where they were greeted by Parrish on the front desk.  
"Hey guys, what's up?" Parrish asked.  
"We need to see Chad" Scott responded.  
"Sorry guys, the Sheriff's restricted access to him" Parrish answered.  
"It's important" Isaac added. Stilinski came out of his office, having seen the group of teenagers gathering at the desk.  
"He's under arrest for suspected murder, we can't just let anyone in, I'm sorry guys" Stilinski tried to reason with the group.  
"5 minutes, that's all I ask" Scott pleaded. Stilinski sighed, knowing that he'd have a fight on his hands if he continued to refuse.  
"Alright, 5 minutes, and I'll be timing you" he decided.  
"Thanks" Scott smiled and the group walked through to the cell.

"We've got to get to Scott" Lydia said, starting to feel worried about what Chad's plan might be.  
"He's not picking up" Stiles had his phone out already but couldn't get through. However, they stopped in their tracks when they heard the front door bell chime, signalling that someone has walked in. Deaton signalled to Stiles and Lydia, placing his finger in front of his lips to make sure they stay quiet. Deaton went to the doorway, and there stood a young man with long hair.  
"Where's Lydia?" Shane asked, baring his fangs.

"I feel so helpless" Hayden worried. She was tired, having spent most of the day by this young girl's bedside.  
"We've done all we can" Liam tried to console her once again. He was distracted from this, however, when he picked up a scent he hadn't noticed before.  
"Werewolf" he stated.  
"I'll go look" Corey suggested, turning himself invisible. The door opened, and to anyone without the knowledge of the pack, it would've looked like it was opening itself. Corey crept down the hospital hallway, looking at everyone that he passed. However, one particular person stood out. A young African-American girl was stood at the top of the corridor. What worried Corey most was the fact she was staring right at him. She walked immediately in his direction, and Corey ran the opposite way. He was still invisible, but when he looked back, the girl had started to run too. She knew exactly where he was. Corey ran straight back into the hospital room, and slammed the door behind him.  
"Help me!" he yelled, as he became visible again. He was pushed against the door, ensuring nobody could get in, and Mason helped by placing the chair up against it. The girl stood outside, facing through the small window in the door.  
"Melissa McCall, I need you" she shouted. This sent a chill through Melissa's spine, worried about what this may entail.

Lonely in his cell, Chad sat on the floor with his back against the wall. Despite everything that was going on, he felt relatively at ease. Shane and Anita were still about, and he'd more than prepared them for this moment. On the topic of preparation, he was also prepared for Scott's arrival at the cell, and it came as no surprise when he brought Isaac, Maddie and Casey along with him, with Malia in tow too.  
"What took you so long?" Chad asked, with a smirk on his face. He was still sat on the stone cold floor.  
"Don't flatter yourself, you're hardly a priority" Isaac retaliated. Malia held his hand, feeling sympathetic for Isaac – a feeling she wasn't used to herself.  
"Oh that's the side of Isaac I love. The anger, the rage, the feelings left behind by your father. What was it like to be locked up in that broken down freezer?" Chad tried his best to provoke Isaac, and it looked like it was working, as Isaac's heart rate increased. Malia whispered in his ear.  
"Ignore him, think about me. Imagine us on holiday, on the beach, you in your shorts and me in my bikini. No stress, just relaxation" she whispered as if she were a therapist. Isaac took note, and calmed himself down.  
"What do you want Chad?" Scott asked.  
"I want you, Scott" he replied.  
"And kidnapping me got you that...how?" Casey was sceptical.  
"I want you too, don't think you're getting off so lightly" Chad replied, "Look, right now I've got Shane and Anita dealing with your little friends, so let's not waste any time if you want to see them again." The pack looked at each other, worried about what Chad was about to suggest.  
"I need" Chad began, leaving a few moments as if he were building tension, "...your power." Scott was aghast, and he worryingly looked towards Casey, who felt much the same.


	6. Power and Control

_It was the dead of night in Beacon Hills, with nobody around in the forest. Nobody except for three hyenas, that is. The trio ran through the forests, on the hunt for shelter. However, one turned and noticed a peculiar looking tree – one cut down to a stump in fact. It was, however, much larger than any of the trees surrounding. One by one, the hyenas made their way through the clearing and stood on top of the tree. As they stood on top, their form shifted, one by one, almost as if the tree had given them power to make a full transformation. Now stood on top of the tree were three humanoid figures. One was a male in his mid-40s. Balding, dark hair; next to him stood a woman a similar age, with flowing blonde hair, and a younger lad, in his early teens, with messy dirty blonde hair. All looked dazed and confused, wondering just how they transformed the way they did..._

* * *

 ** _Power and Control_**

* * *

"How would my power help you?" Scott asked. He was totally confused, having just heard Chad say that he wants his power.  
"It wouldn't help me personally. Not yet anyway" Chad replied, with the usual level of arrogance in his tone.  
"What if we say no?" Casey jumped in, fighting the same battle as Scott.  
"Then Shane and Anita will finish off your friends. The other option is to let me out and..." Chad began to explain but was cut off.  
"Woah, you're not going anywhere. You need help, Chad" Maddie was raging at the suggestion of Chad walking free.  
"If you'd let me finish?" Chad retaliated, "If you let me out, your power could be used to save lives."

Melissa felt terrified for her life as she was blocked in a hospital room, with a psychotic werewolf calling her name outside. One comfort was the presence of Liam and Hayden, two werewolves themselves, plus Corey and Mason.  
"Time is ticking Melissa, come out or I'll come in and get you myself" Anita shouted.  
"I need to go" Melissa whispered to Liam.  
"You can't!" Liam sternly whispered back.  
"Yes you can Melissa" Anita shouted, having heard what they said. Melissa closed her eyes and tried to think of another way out.

Meanwhile, at the animal clinic, Stiles, Lydia and Deaton were in a similar spot of trouble.  
"I know you're in there Lydia" Shane shouted, from behind the mountain ash gate.  
"Even if she were in there, how would you plan on getting to her?" Deaton proposed.  
"You can't stay in there forever, I'll just wait. However, the quicker you come with me, the smaller the consequences" Shane explained.  
"Was that a threat?" Deaton queried.  
"Do you want to take that risk?" Shane fired back.

In the main room of the animal clinic, Stiles and Lydia were having a quiet conversation. They were sat on the floor, cuddling together.  
"Stiles, I'm scared" Lydia confessed.  
"Me too, not gonna lie" Stiles responded, "But don't worry, I've got you. He'll have to get through me before he can reach you." Lydia moved in closer, making the most of the moment.

"You can't seriously be considering this?" Maddie protested. The group were huddled together, talking privately about what to do with Chad. Well, about as privately as they could, considering Chad heard every word with his enhanced hearing.  
"We don't even know why he needs the power yet. He's being super vague" Malia added.  
"But if it could save lives, perhaps it's the right choice?" Scott pondered.  
"Ironic for him to talk about saving lives when he's done nothing but take them" Isaac commented.  
"Why don't we ask him? He's gotta be upfront with us if he wants our help" Casey suggested.  
"Sounds like a plan" Scott approved. They all turned back to Chad.  
"You want more information?" Chad proposed, "Better pull up a chair."

Liam was sat down, pondering an exit route. He took out his phone, and started tapping. He turned the volume off, ensuring that Anita wouldn't hear it outside. Neither Liam nor any of the others knew Anita, and he felt he had to call for help, afraid of what she wants with Melissa. His finger slid over one of the contacts and the call began, but Liam simply held the phone down low, and stood up.  
"Hey! You, outside!" Liam shouted.  
"What the heck are you doing?" Mason whispered harshly.  
"Something clever" Liam confidently replied.

"There's nothing we can do, is there?" Lydia whispered to Stiles.  
"We could try and appeal to his better nature" Stiles suggested optimistically.  
"You're assuming he has a better nature" Lydia retorted.  
"Fair point" Stiles responded, "Got anything better?" Lydia looked stumped.

Just metres away, Deaton was continuing to stand his ground.  
"What is your name?" he asked.  
"Shane, I'm a friend of Isaac's" Shane responded.  
"How loosely is the term 'friend' used?" Deaton questioned.  
"Very loosely I'd expect" Stiles interrupted. He and Lydia were stood in the doorway. Shane smiled with pleasure.

"What's your name?" Liam shouted.  
"Anita" was the response.  
"You're one of Isaac's friends?" Liam responded.  
"The details aren't important. I need Melissa McCall, and the longer you drag this out, the worse the consequences will be" Anita threatened.  
"Why do you need her?" Liam tried his best to get as much information as possible, his phone still in his hand.  
"She will be necessary" Anita was purposely vague.  
"Necessary for what?"  
"Like I said, the details aren't important. Make the right decision and make it quickly, there's no other way out." Liam pressed the 'end call' button with his thumb, and sat down in anticipation.

It had been 10 minutes since Scott and the others had arrived at the station to speak to Chad, and Stilinski was getting impatient.  
"These kids are pushing their limits, I've already given them an extra five minutes" he complained to himself, sat in his office. He stood up and made his way to the cell.

In the meantime, Scott was prepared to hear Chad out.  
"I grew up in the forests of Beacon Hills. I was born a hyena, and hunted as a pack with my parents" Chad began to explain, "But one night something happened. We reached a tree stump in the middle of the woods, I'd never seen it before, but I felt like I had to walk towards it."  
"The Nemeton" identified Scott.  
"It transformed all of us. We became human. There's always been a myth that a werehyena can begin as a hyena and transform into a human, but the Nemeton gave us the energy we needed. Except it went wrong. My parents had been hyenas their entire lives, but my mom's body couldn't cope. She was admitted to hospital and her condition stabilised, but she had no power. I'd never seen anything like it, but it was like almost all of her energy had been drained from her" Chad revealed. At this moment, Stilinski interrupted.  
"Alright guys, you've had double the allotted time" Stilinski ordered. Maddie stood up and approached him.  
"Look fella, we're gonna need longer. Important business and all that" she responded, pushing him back out of the door and closing it. Stilinski was slightly embarrassed by what happened and left them to it for the time being.  
"Where were we?" Maddie asked, seamlessly slotting back into serious mode.  
"Wow" Scott muttered under his breath, amazed by Maddie's effortlessness. Isaac smirked, having heard Scott's comment.  
"As I was saying, my mom was struggling. The doctors didn't know what to do, so we moved her ourselves. My dad got a job at the big warehouse down town, and we kept her in the basement" Chad continued.  
"What happened to a good old fashioned house?" Isaac remarked.  
"Did you hear the part about being a hyena for most of my life? None of us had any money, we had to live under there while we were saving, hiding out. We moved and got a house in San Francisco as you well know. Were you too busy adjusting your scarf to listen?" Chad was riled up by Isaac's comment.  
"Alright you two, calm it. Keep going, Chad" Casey kept the peace.  
"After a while, my dad's health deteriorated too. It's like they couldn't handle the transformation, but here I am, unaffected" Chad explained.  
"It was brought on forcefully by the power of the Nemeton, their body wasn't expecting anything so drastic. You're younger, you can adapt better, like you Malia when you shifted from coyote form back to human" Scott speculated, "How do the murders come into this?"  
"It was a one-off at first. They told me I had to take the power of another supernatural, and it worked, short term. They had power, and energy, but it didn't last long at all. They made me kill more and more people. I was precise with the injuries to cause a distraction" Chad exposed.  
"But Daniel, he wasn't supernatural? Where does he come into this?" Malia queried.  
"Collateral damage" Chad bluntly replied, "He knew too much. He had to go." Malia was horrified by the response.  
"You want our power because it'll save their lives" Scott stated. The pieces began to slot together in his mind, and he wasn't quite sure what to make of the situation.

"What do you want?" Lydia asked Shane.  
"You, the banshee" Shane replied, "You didn't think you were kidnapped for no reason before, did you?"  
"Of course not, everything you've done has been for a reason. Chad's much too calculated" Lydia thought aloud.  
"You're smarter than you look" Shane remarked.  
"I suspect you are too" Lydia hit back, seemingly making an impact on Shane as his tough demeanour became much more closed in.  
"I can't do this anymore" he confessed. Deaton opened the mountain ash gate and Lydia escorted Shane through.

It had been at least half an hour since Anita began pursuing Melissa – Liam wasn't sure exactly how long. She'd set off the fire alarm to evacuate the hospital, so it was just them left in the building. Liam looked remarkably calm, in contrast to Hayden, Mason and Corey, who were all scared stiff.  
"How can you be so calm?" Mason asked his friend.  
"You saw, I called for back-up" Liam responded, as cool as a cucumber.  
"Whoever it is, they're taking their time" Melissa seemed sceptical.  
"Wait, can you hear that?" Hayden shushed the others.  
"I can't hear anything" Corey responded. Hayden looked towards Liam.  
"Use your wolf hearing" she commanded. Together, they both focused on their long-distance hearing ability. They both heard the sound of thudding footsteps, but something else caught their attention further. It was the spluttering, raging and fearsome sound of fire, which could only mean one thing.  
"Parrish" Hayden identified. Liam smiled.

"I need you to let me out. Together, we can help my parents, then the murders will stop, I promise" Chad sounded sincere.  
"What will you do after?" Casey asked.  
"We'll move back to San Francisco, start afresh, you can get on with your lives as normal" Chad promised. The others huddled round again.  
"You're actually considering this aren't you?" a disgruntled Maddie sussed out.  
"He seems genuine. His heart has been beating like normal" Scott answered.  
"Wouldn't be the first time he pulled off a convincing lie" Malia argued. Maddie stared at her, noticing exactly what drew Isaac towards her.  
"There are five of us, and just one of him. If he tries to escape, we've got him covered" Isaac noted.  
"All those in favour?" Scott asked. He, Casey and Isaac raised their hands. Malia and Maddie did not.  
"This is gonna go horribly wrong" Maddie remarked.

Stomping his way towards the hospital room, Parrish made his way up the corridor and towards Anita. He was in hellhound form, surrounded by fire, and ready for battle. In turn, Anita prepared herself – fangs and claws on show. She stared at Parrish as he turned the corner, and he glared back. Without warning, Anita charged at him, bearing her fangs. Parrish simply pushed his hand forward, sending a shockwave of fire back at Anita, sending her flying down the corridor. She landed, sparked out. Parrish cooled down and opened the door, greeted immediately by a delighted Liam.  
"What are we waiting for? Let's get out of here" Parrish suggested, and the group ran as fast as they could.

Stiles and Lydia positioned themselves on one side of the central desk in the animal clinic. Shane was on the other while Deaton held court at the end of the desk.  
"Why does he have you in the palm of his hand?" Stiles interrogated.  
"I…I can't say" Shane stuttered.  
"It's alright, you can tell us. We want to help you, and we can only do that if you tell us everything" Lydia explained.  
"Chad…his mum is an alpha. She converted me to a werehyena. It was against my will, I didn't want anything to do with his plan, but he told me that I'd be an omega without him, and omegas never survive. It was kill or be killed – Casey was supposedly dead, Isaac was suspected of murdering him and Maddie drifted away from all of us. Anita was convinced but I was never sure" Shane detailed.  
"Whilst it's true that an omega has less power than an alpha or beta, it's not impossible to survive alone. I've met many omegas who have coped fine on their own" Deaton spoke with wisdom.  
"So…I've been worried…for nothing?" Shane looked even more downtrodden. He broke down into tears, "We…we…killed her".  
"Who?" Stiles asked, sharing a concerned glance with Lydia.  
"The werewolf girl. I didn't even know her name, but Chad had just captured Casey and wanted answers. He sent us out, to take her power and bring it back for his parents" Shane continued.  
"Stealing another supernatural being's power is common but I've never heard of it being stolen and passed on" Deaton was unsure of the situation.  
"Anita did most of the work but she wanted my help to make the injuries precise – to match those of every other victim" Shane was visibly upset as he spoke.  
"It's alright, you're safe now" Stiles walked around and put a comforting hand on his shoulder, "I think you might have just given us the key to stop him."

Steadily opening the door, Maddie and Malia checked the coast was clear before strolling up to Stilinski, who was stood at the front desk.  
"Are y'all done, girls?" he asked them.  
"The guys have a few more questions, we're gonna head home. They said they won't be long now" Malia explained. Stilinski's back was turned away from the door to the cell room, with Malia and Maddie facing towards it. Maddie winked in the direction of the door as Malia kept on talking, and Scott crept out, moving a few metres down the corridor. He elbowed the fire alarm, setting it off.  
"Everybody out!" Stilinski shouted, as the pace inside the room was ramped up. Everyone quickly but calmly made their way out of the fire exit. Stilinski gave his key cad and a pair of handcuffs to Malia.  
"Cuff him and bring him out, fast as you can" he ordered, before assisting his colleagues in evacuating the rest of the building.

Meanwhile, Casey and Isaac kept an eye on Chad as they waited for the alarm to sound.  
"So much power in you" Chad remarked, looking at Casey. Chad almost looked hungry for power.  
"I've known you long enough to be one step ahead of you" Casey responded.  
"Is that why you did it? Faked your own death?" Isaac jumped in and asked Casey.  
"Basically yeah" Casey bluntly responded, "Look Isaac, I didn't get any enjoyment from it. I hated every second of it, but I was trying to keep myself and all of you safe."  
"I went on the run, that's hardly protecting me" Isaac retaliated.  
"Sorry, that'll be my fault" Chad interrupted, "When I found Casey lying supposedly dead, I planted evidence to get you locked up. It was a distraction for the cops. Oops."  
"You…" Isaac was filled with rage. Casey put a hand on his shoulder as Isaac was about to square up to Chad, despite the metal bars of the cell being between them. Isaac felt Casey's reassuring hand, and calmed himself down. All of a sudden, the fire alarm went off. A continuous ear-piercing ring. Moments later, Scott, Malia and Maddie returned with the key card to the cell.

"Where are we going?" Corey panted as the group ran out of the hospital.  
"We've got to find Scott" Mason suggested.  
"Where would he be?" Hayden panicked. They burst through the front doors and stopped for breath.  
"He…he went to talk to Chad…at the station" Liam gasped for breath as he spoke.  
"You've got to get down there, now!" Melissa ordered, "I've got to get that young girl out."  
"I'll stay, you can't fight Anita on your own" Parrish offered.  
"Me too" Hayden jumped in, "You guys find Scott, we'll be fine". Liam moved in and kissed her.  
"Look after yourself" he said, breaking the passionate embrace.

Stiles and Lydia stood outside the animal clinic with Shane. It was a quiet night, barely a cloud in the sky. The sky certainly felt clearer to Shane too, knowing he'd found someone to confide in.  
"So just keep on as normal, don't let Chad suspect anything's up" Lydia ordered.  
"You can't mess this up, this is the only chance we've got of bringing him down, you got that?" Stiles patted him on the back.  
"I've got it. He's not gonna be happy though" Shane still seemed mellow.  
"How do you mean?" Stiles was confused.  
"I was sent to collect you Lydia, for your power. The power of a banshee. The reason he kidnapped you in the first place" Chad explained, "I'm gonna need a damn good reason for returning without you."  
"You'll think of something. It's alright" Stiles smiled. Shane walked off into the distance, putting ona brave face, ready to return to Chad.  
"You think this will work?" Lydia asked.  
"It's got to" Stiles confidently replied, but with a look of fear present on his face.

Whilst keeping a keen lookout, Chad was escorted through the police station and out through the front door. The fire alarm had sent everyone out to the back of the building, where the assembly point was located, so the front of the building was all clear for them to make an escape. Chad was kept in handcuffs and walked just behind Scott, who led the way with Maddie.  
"I was wondering, when this is all over, if you'd fancy taking me to dinner" Maddie tried flirting with Scott. Scott in return looked baffled and was almost put off the mission.  
"Time and a place" Scott responded flippantly.  
"Aw, can the big alpha not handle a little bit of flirtation?" Chad teased.  
"Sorry for asking" Maddie sulked.  
"No" Scott backtracked, "I'd love to". He and Maddie smiled at each other.  
"Are we leaving at any time soon? I don't really wanna be here when the alarm stops and they come back in" Isaac nagged. Scott turned round and continued. Malia was last out of the front door, closing it gently behind her. The cool wind hit them as they walked outside, hair blustering about all over the place. It felt strangely calm as they walked towards the car, but the calm was broken as a voice came roaring through the silence.  
"Scott! Don't trust him!" came the voice, shouting. It was Liam, who began to run towards Scott, with Mason and Corey in tow. At that precise moment, a loud snap was heard and Chad broke free of his handcuffs. He too two syringes out of his pocket and stabbed one into Scott's neck and one into Casey's, from behind them. Isaac and Malia bared their fangs but while the two alphas dropped to the floor unconscious, Chad's face turned orange and he pulled a gun out of his pocket. Isaac and Malia both backed off while Liam, Mason and Corey stopped running when they were a metre away.  
"Stay back or I'll shoot" he threatened.  
"You don't have to do this" Isaac tried to reason with him.  
"Look at Isaac, always trying to impress Scott, the lost orphan with no home" Chad taunted. He then directed his attention to the full group, "Run away, as fast as you can, or I promise I'll shoot." Liam nodded at the others and they reluctantly ran off together away from the sheriff station. Chad picked up the two unconscious werewolves and heaved them away.


	7. Clandestine

Dazed and confused. That was how Scott McCall felt when he woke up. He had no idea where he was, not helped in the slightest by the blurred vision he was experiencing. Slowly, he sat up. The blurs started to form solid shapes, but he struggled to concentrate with such a banging headache.  
"Easy does it" came a voice next to him. It was Casey, already awake, "The headache goes after a while."  
"Where are we?" Scott asked, slightly slurred.  
"Chad's warehouse. Déjà vu, not long since I was here with Lydia" Casey commented.  
"They'll find us, Stiles, Lydia, Liam, they'll know where we are" Scott tried to console the duo.  
"And they'll walk straight into my little trap" came a voice from around the corner. A shadowed figure walked out. Scott's vision was still blurred, albeit less so than before. However, he could identify that voice easily. It was the sinister tone of Chad.  
"Your cute little pack know exactly where you are, and I've taken precautions" Chad continued. Scott and Casey both felt horrified by the sound of a gun being primed in the background…

* * *

 ** _Clandestine_**

* * *

The atmosphere was all over the place as Chris Argent's basement filled up with numerous people. Stiles, Lydia, Malia, Liam, Mason, Corey, Isaac and Maddie had all managed to escape from Chad unscathed, but they weren't willing to go down without a fight. To help them out, they'd called on a few friends, namely Argent, Sheriff Stilinski and werewolf Brett. There was little order in the room and there was a lot of chat occurring while they waited to be addressed.  
"Why are we down in this grotty dump?" Maddie complained to Isaac.  
"I heard that" Argent butted in.  
"Argent's got loads of weapons" Isaac replied, "We can protect ourselves if Chad's little minions come knocking."  
"I can protect myself" Maddie showed off her fangs.  
"Don't I know it" Isaac remarked. They were interrupted as Stiles tried to get everyone's attention.  
"OK everybody" he raised his voice to be heard. The ambient noise of chatter quietened down and everyone was fixated on Stiles, who continued, "I know we're all worried about Scott and Casey, but it's alright, we're pretty certain we know where they'll be."  
"There's just one problem with that" Lydia took over, "If they're in a location as obvious as Chad's warehouse, he must be confident that we won't be able to interrupt."  
"Which leads us to our mole" Stiles carried on, "We've got an inside guy who could let us in."  
"Who?" Malia asked.  
"Shane, your so-called friend" Stiles answered, looking towards Isaac.  
"Wait, he's on our side? Did I miss the memo or something?" Isaac asked.  
"He trusts us, that's all you need to know, and he can get us inside" Lydia explained.  
"So, what's the plan?" Mason queried.

Flickering lights was all that could be seen by Parrish, Melissa and Hayden as they inched their way into the hospital. They were on the lookout for Anita, who was lurking somewhere nearby, but it was hard to tell exactly where.  
"Can you not catch her scent or something?" Melissa whispered to Hayden.  
"I didn't catch it before, there were too many people around" Hayden whispered back.  
"Would've helped a great deal, we could've planned a route" Parrish commented.  
"Well that's not the case so let's keep focused" Hayden sternly whispered.

"How did you become an alpha?" Scott asked Casey. The two were sat together for the foreseeable future, so Scott thought some light conversation might take their minds off the situation momentarily.  
"Well I'm not a true alpha, so you can probably guess" Casey sounded ashamed.  
"You killed someone?" Scott was shocked, "I'm sorry, it's just, you don't seem like the type".  
"Thanks I guess" Casey laughed, "It's not as bad as it sounds, I promise. I didn't murder anyone in cold blood. The alpha who bit me, he got killed by a hunter. Someone else encouraged me to take his power before he died, so he'd live on in some way."  
"That's kinda sweet I guess" Scott was supportive, "Makes a change from the power-hungry werewolves that always want power and status."  
"It's clichéd and it bores me" Casey smiled, "So are the stories true? You managed to push through a mountain ash barrier?"  
"Yeah, that's right" Scott blushed.  
"Insane! Any chance of breaking through this one?" Casey joked, referring to the barrier surrounded the duo, "Chad's learnt from our last escape" he noted. The two bonded properly for the first time, but unfortunately it was short-lived when Chad returned.  
"Good to see my favourite boys getting along" he commented. The smiles on both of their faces dropped like a tonne of bricks, "Enjoy your alpha status while you can". Scott and Casey looked at each other, both feeling sick with worry.

Meanwhile, Lydia was dishing out instructions to the pack.  
"We've split us all into three groups – Liam, Malia, Isaac and Brett, you'll take the front entrance. Mainly you'll need to fight off any guards but also, you'll be our distraction. Maddie, Mason and Corey, you need to sneak in the back and get them back out as quickly as you can. Stiles, Sheriff and Argent will stay here with me" Lydia explained as assertively as possible.  
"You're trusting us to get Scott and Casey out?" Corey was taken aback by how big a role he had in the plan.  
"You can turn invisible, I couldn't think of anyone better for the job" Stiles justified. Corey reluctantly nodded, giving his seal of approval.  
"I can't turn invisible though" Maddie interrupted.  
"Your feminine charm is the reason we allocated you there. If you come face-to-face with Chad or anyone else, you're the person who'd be able to talk yourself out of it" Lydia complimented.  
"So what are we waiting for? Let's get moving people!" Stiles hurried everyone out of the basement.

The adrenaline was running high throughout Hayden's body as she inched closer with Parrish and Melissa. They were cautious at every doorway, at every corner and at every turn; basically anywhere that Anita could be hiding, ready to pounce. Hayden's heart was pounding loudly. She had no idea if she was even going to make it out of the hospital alive, and it scared her to death. Liam was her anchor, he always was. He was the reason she kept on fighting. This gave her confidence. Her nerves turned to self-belief as she moved slowly through the hospital, with Parrish on her right and Melissa on her left. Parrish's gun was out, while Melissa kept back a little bit, considering she lacks the healing power of her friends. The trio approached the final corner before reaching the young girl's hospital room. Every other room had been evacuated already and nobody was in sight, leaving this young girl alone. Hayden couldn't stomach the idea of someone so defenceless left in the hands of a ruthless killer, and was determined to get her out. Parrish led the way as they approached the door. He peeped into the room, gun in position, before entering. Melissa and Hayden stood outside in anticipation, hoping Parrish would give the all clear and they could get out as soon as possible.  
"It's empty" Parrish reported back, still keeping his voice quiet.  
"Thank god for that" Melissa breathed a sigh of relief, walking into the room.  
"No, I literally mean empty. She's gone" Parrish broke the bad news. Hayden's stomach sunk, now feeling very worried.  
"It's a trap, and we're walking right into it" Hayden worried. Melissa looked stumped and Parrish was out of ideas for what to do next.  
"We can't just leave her" Melissa was adamant, "Scott would know what to do."  
"Well he's not here, is he?" Parrish remarked.  
"Thanks for stating the goddamn obvious" Melissa retaliated, feeling the pressure.  
"Stop it!" Hayden interrupted, "We might not have Scott, but we do have me. The girl, she's been in this room most of the day, I can catch her scent." Melissa and Parrish experienced a renewed optimism as they saw a glimmer in Hayden's eyes.

Two cars were needed to transport everyone to the warehouse. Mason, Corey and Brett were driven by Liam, while Malia drove Isaac and Maddie.  
"I can't believe we're actually doing this" Mason commented, worried about the events that were set to unfold.  
"It'll be OK, we should be experts at this by now" Corey joked.  
"Sounds pretty simple to me, we just distract them and sneak in the back. Can't be too difficult, right?" Brett assumed.  
"I wouldn't be so sure. This is the guy who framed me for murder, he's one step ahead of everyone and we need to expect the unexpected" Liam was concerned, but looked pretty emotionless, as if he had something more important to worry about.  
"You've got Hayden on your mind haven't you?" Mason looked to his left, at his best friend in the driver seat.  
"Is it that obvious?" Liam gave in. He certainly was thinking about Hayden – non-stop, in fact. He was worried whether his girlfriend would make it out of the hospital alive, and if she did, whether he'd still be alive to see her at the end of it.  
"Don't worry, it'll all be over soon and you can see her again" Mason reassured him.  
"Hey, remember when you went on the run?" Brett interrupted, "You were happy to walk away from her then, but it was because you wanted to protect her. Protect her now." His words of encouragement resonated with his former rival. Liam had his head back in the game and was ready for action.

While this chat was occurring, the other car was similarly mellow.  
"I can't do this" Maddie felt hugely emotional. She was sat in the back seat on her own, with Isaac in the passenger seat next to Malia. Isaac reached around and put a comforting hand on Maddie's knee.  
"You'll be amazing, you always are" he smiled.  
"Do you two want a room or something?" Malia butted in.  
"You'll also be amazing, that goes without saying" Isaac was well aware he was on dangerous ground, between the missus and the ex, so to speak.  
"I hope this is worth it. We'll be fighting our asses off for them, I just hope he hasn't outsmarted us" Malia expressed her concerns.  
"He was always calculated, he never did anything without a reason" Maddie explained.  
"We're in trouble" Isaac added.

Lydia couldn't take her eyes away from her phone. She was checking it every few seconds to ensure she hadn't missed a message from one of the others. Her mind was in overdrive, worrying about what may or may not have happen to her friends.  
"Stupid thing!" she shouted as she threw her phone to the floor.  
"Hey, watch that!" Stiles said as he walked to calm her down, "I don't wanna have to pay for an upgrade." Lydia raised a smile briefly.  
"I'm worried, Stiles" Lydia confessed as a tear fell from her eye.  
"What's up?" he put his arm around her, genuinely concerned for his girl.  
"I can't shake this feeling" Lydia sounded dazed and was vague in her words.  
"You're not making any sense right now. Is it a banshee thing?" Stiles queried.  
"I think…I know somebody's going to die tonight" Lydia said, sounding vacant and barely aware of what she was saying.

Hayden led the way to the hospital elevator. Parrish and Melissa followed either side of her, unaware of where they were being taken but fully trusting Hayden's senses. When they were positioned in the elevator, Hayden examined the buttons, and pressed the button for the basement. Melissa was watching, and felt a sense of dread in her stomach, knowing exactly what's located on the lowest level – the morgue. When the lift stopped moving, signalled by a small ding sound, the doors slid open. Parrish led the way once again, holding his gun, while Hayden and Melissa stayed in the lift – the latter holding the lift door open by placing her hand by it. Parrish stepped out only a few steps, and turned back.  
"The coast is c…" he announced, but was cut off in a flash, as a figure pounced on him. The lights were flickering on and off, so it was difficult to make out. Melissa and Hayden stepped back in fright, and the lift doors shut on them. They were now trapped – torn between making a run for it to save themselves, or stepping into the unknown to save Parrish and the young girl.  
"What do we do?" Hayden asked, panicking.  
"We do what Scott would do. We fight out way out" Melissa said, with confidence.

Filled with drowsiness, Scott was drifting off to sleep. His energy levels were low – he hadn't eaten or drunk anything since being kidnapped by Chad, and whilst his stomach was rumbling, it wasn't the only part of his body complaining. To move his arm even slightly felt like a struggle. Talking began to feel difficult. Then, he felt something on his shoulder. Casey had fallen asleep, and was using Scott as a pillow. Scott didn't mind, and rested his head on Casey's. He wasn't sure how to get out of the situation he was in – he'd tried breaking the chains, but they were too strong, even for his wolf power. Besides, at this point, he didn't have the energy for that. However, at that moment, Scott went from feeling drained to being wide awake, as another guy was thrown into the room. Chad followed behind, moving fast towards the other man. Scott focused on the other guy, who was lying in front of him now. It was Shane, with added cuts and bruises on his face. He was cowered on the floor, scared stiff of the approaching Chad.  
"Please, please don't" Shane was pleading. Chad stopped in front of him and looked at Scott, as well as a now-awake Casey.  
"This is what happens when you disobey me" Chad spoke. He turned back to Shane, "I told you to bring me the banshee. Where is she?"  
"I couldn't, I tried but I couldn't get her to come" Shane tried to explain, speaking rapidly and tripping over his words.  
"You tried? Is that all?" Chad scolded. He grabbed Shane by the arm and picked him up. This was when Scott noticed what was in Chad's other hand. A blow torch. Chad turned it on, and held it to Shane's chest. Shane yelled in pain as it moved closer and closer, while Scott and Casey both winced. They had little energy to move their heads away, so opted to close their eyes instead. However, Shane's ear-piercing screams were still very much audible.

The cars pulled up down the road from the warehouse. They purposely kept their distance, not wanting to be spotted by Chad. Malia took out her phone and called Lydia, who jumped when the phone rang and couldn't answer it quickly enough.  
"Are you alright? What's happening?" Lydia asked in a panic.  
"We're fine, we've just arrived" Malia explained much more calmly.  
"OK, you're going to have to approach the warehouse, but keep yourselves out of view. Then when you're ready, Mason, Corey and Maddie will need to head round the back while you head straight to the front entrance" Lydia detailed.  
"Gotcha, I'll call you later" Malia said, finishing the call.  
"And be careful!" Lydia tried to cram in a final warning but the call got cut off midway through it.

Reluctantly, Melissa pressed the button to open the lift doors. There wasn't a peep to be heard beyond the still-flickering lights. Hayden pointed in one direction, using her sense of smell to guide her to where the young girl was. They crept down the corridors, keeping an eye out at all times for Anita. Before long, they reached the morgue. They took one look at each other, a deep breath, and pushed open the doors. Placed on the table in the middle was the girl, whose name was still unknown to the pair. Parrish was placed on the floor next to her, motionless but breathing. As they examined the room, they didn't notice Anita hiding in the corner. She jumped out and pounced on Melissa, who fell to the floor. Anita bit into Melissa's arm. Melissa shrieked in pain as blood squirted out and drooped to the floor. Hayden wasted on time in jumping to the rescue, baring her fangs and claws as she kicked Anita off a distressed Melissa. Anita gathered herself together and stood back up, also baring her own claws and fangs. They stood opposite each other as Melissa crawled behind Hayden to reach Parrish. It was a stand-off, and Hayden had left her worries at the door. All that was going through her mind now was her protective instinct. She knew she had to fight Anita and it wasn't going to be easy, but to save her friends, she'd do anything. Anita hurled herself towards Hayden, and suddenly, there wasn't a single thought on her mind, as she battled against the vicious werewolf. Hayden's hands pushed against Anita's shoulders, holding her back with all her strength.

Creeping slowly towards the main entrance of the warehouse, Isaac led the group of four. The large shutters were closed and they approached a door towards the right of it instead. It was locked. Liam tried to bash it in, but ultimately failed.  
"What do we do now?" Liam asked.  
"There must be another way in" Malia suggested.  
"We could try and lift the shutter" Brett offered. The rest gave looks of approval and all four positioned themselves in prime position to lift it up. Each and every one of them gave all of their strength to try and push the shutter up, and it didn't seem to be going anywhere for a few seconds, until it lifted up by five centimetres.  
"Keep going" Malia commanded. All four kept pushing it up, and before they knew it, it slid all the way up. However, because they were all so pleased with themselves for opening the shutter into the large warehouse, they failed to hear a click sound above, and all of a sudden, a circle of power fell to the ground. The sense of accomplishment in the group fell to fear as they realised.  
"Mountain ash" Isaac identified, with anger in his tone.  
"We're trapped" Liam added. He showed his wolf eyes and began trying to push against the mountain ash barrier, but to no avail.  
"Quit it, there's no way out. We've got to rely on the others" Brett spoke to Liam.  
"I need to call Lydia" Isaac said, digging into his pocket to retrieve his phone.

Shane was lying on the floor. He was in pain throughout his entire body, but he knew Chad wouldn't give him time to recover.  
"Move these two downstairs" Chad commanded, "Now." Shane stood up slowly, and pulled two handcuffs out of his pocket. He untied both Scott and Casey, and placed the handcuffs on their wrists to stop them fighting back.  
"Come on, stand up" Shane instructed.  
"I can't" Scott complained, barely sounding awake.  
"I said get them downstairs" Chad raised his voice. Shane gave Scott a hand, before offering the same hand to Casey. Shane had one of them on either side of his body and tried to assist them as they headed towards a narrow wooden staircase down to the basement. It was a struggle to help two weak teenagers down a staircase alone but Shane powered through, whilst also trying to block out his own pain. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he let go of the duo and they slumped to the floor. The room was pitch black, and neither Casey nor Scott could make out anything. Chad casually strolled down the stairs behind, and walked in front. Shane quietly crept back up the stairs.  
"Meet your masters" Chad grinned as he switched the lights on. Across the room were two hospital beds, with Chad's mum and dad laying on one each. They looked totally lifeless, and almost shrivelled in appearance. Chad's mum pressed a button on her hospital bed remote control, and it lifted up at the top end, so she could sit up.  
"True…alpha…" she muttered slowly.

When Shane reached the top of the staircase, he rushed to the back door. Waiting patiently outside were Corey, Mason and Maddie.  
"You took your time" Maddie remarked as he opened the door. She went to walk in but he blocked the way.  
"I'm sorry, I can't do this" Shane said as he tried to shut the door. Maddie stuck her foot in the way.  
"No no no, you're not turning us away now" she adamantly stated. Shane moved towards her, as if he was about to tell a secret.  
"Look at what he's done to me" he whispered, lifting his top. He revealed the burn marks made by Chad and the blow torch.  
"Why isn't it healing?" Corey asked.  
"He laced it with wolfsbane. It stings like hell" Shane sounded broken.  
"This is what he does. He's manipulating you, and he's gonna kill Scott and Casey. You need to help us" Maddie pleaded. Shane thought for a moment, before opening the door to allow access.  
"You won't regret this" Maddie smiled to him, showing sympathy.

"We've got to get down there" Lydia stated, having just finished a phone call with Isaac.  
"It's too dangerous, you said so yourself" Argent responded.  
"But if they're in danger, then it's our duty to help them out" Stilinski argued.  
"Well what are we waiting for? We gotta help them" Stiles sounded eager to assist his friends. They wasted no time in leaving Argent's basement and heading to Stiles' jeep.

Hayden flung Anita to the floor, knocking a lot of medical equipment off the adjacent table in doing so. Anita was down for a second but got back up and flung herself back at Hayden, who fell crashing to the floor with Anita on her.  
"He's alive!" came a voice from across the room. Melissa was reporting on Parrish, who was simply unconscious after being attacked by Anita earlier.  
"With all due respect, my need is greater" Hayden responded.  
"You're disposable" Anita bluntly stated as she met Hayden eye-to-eye, "I was sent here for Melissa, the medic, anyone else is simply in the way."  
"You don't have to do this" Hayden pleaded as she struggled, "You're above Chad."  
"He's given me a new way of life, why would I give it up? He's promised me power and status" Anita explained.  
"Yeah? Well how about this for power" Hayden stated as she grabbed Anta by the neck, as her eyes glowed yellow. She used all of her wolf strength to fling Anita right across the room, crashing into the wall and leaving a huge crumbling dent. Hayden looked horrified in her own strength, not intending such a huge impact.  
"What did you do?" Melissa asked, in shock. Hayden walked over to where Anita was slumped on the floor. Melissa crawled a metre across the floor from Parrish to Anita and checked her pulse.  
"She's…she's dead" Melissa stuttered as she spoke. Hayden's stomach dropped as she felt a sick sense throughout her entire body over what she'd just done. She stared at Anita's lifeless body as her conscience kicked in and she felt dreadful, worse than she'd ever felt in her life.

Not showing any sympathy, Chad dragged Scott and Casey across the floor. They were both too weak at this point to fight and submitted to Chad's forcefulness. Both of Chad's parents managed to gather enough energy to display their claws. Chad picked Scott up and placed him on his mum's hospital bed, in the perfect position for her claws to reach his chest. Likewise, Casey was placed in a similar position next to Chad's father.  
"Your energy's been drained using the chains I put on you, but there's still some scraps left, and with two alphas, I can't afford to waste a drop" Chad explained. At this moment, both parents dug their claws into their respective alpha's chest. Scott's eyes shut in pain, but he couldn't muster up any energy to talk. Casey however felt even worse. He felt like he was being drained of each and every droplet of his power. His wolf eyes glowed red, before flashing to a lighter yellow. His alpha status was gone.  
"Stop!" came a female voice from the exit. Nobody was in view, but suddenly, Scott and Casey were both yanked off the hospital beds and the energy was no longer being drained. At this moment, Corey, Mason and Maddie all snapped into view. With the help of Corey's chameleon power, the trio could sneak into the basement and save Scott and Casey. However, they were not out of the saucepan yet.  
"We need to get out of here, now" Mason commanded.  
"I…I can't move" Scott slurred.  
"You're not going anywhere" Chad stated. He walked up to his parents, in between the two hospital beds, "I lied. Your power and energy wasn't helping them out. Their bodies are beyond repair, but they sure as hell make for good storage."  
"Storage for what?" Maddie yelled.  
"For me" Chad looked round and smirked, before baring his claws and digging his right hand into the stomach of his father, and his left hand into the stomach of his mother. Their faces barely moved, without sufficient energy to be affected. Their eyes slowly shut, never to re-open again, as any remaining life force was killed stone dead. Chad bent his head back, absorbing all of the power he'd stolen from the murders over the previous months. Maddie, Corey and Mason stood back in horror, while they tried to give Casey and Scott a hand. Chad then turned back around, slowly. His eyes glowed red as his face turned orange into his werehyena form.  
"Out of my way" he ordered.


	8. Abomination

An ear-splitting sound rocked Beacon Hills that evening. The sound of a roar from an impossible creature. Something that shouldn't exist but does. And it will cause chaos. It created itself, murdering innocent supernatural creatures to steal their power and energy. It conned and deceived others to let itself into existence. Now it was free in Beacon Hills, escaping the warehouse in which it grew up. Those who met it were driven to new extremes. Burglary, deception and even manslaughter, just to find out more about it. A human teenage boy on first glance, but a werehyena with more power than he's used to deep down.

This was the abomination.

* * *

 ** _Abomination_**

* * *

"What was that?" Isaac asked, worried as a dark figure rushed out of the main entrance. He, Liam, Malia and Brett were still surrounded by a circle of mountain ash and unable to escape, after trying and failing to act as a distraction.  
"I hope the others are OK" Malia pondered.  
"I hope Hayden's OK" Liam added, worried about his girlfriend who he hadn't seen or heard from in hours.  
"She'll be fine, man" Brett put a comforting hand on his shoulder, "She can defend herself. Now stop being a wimp and let's focus on how we're getting out of this". Liam smiled, feeling reinvigorated.

Hayden however was not feeling so reinvigorated. She was sat on the floor, crouched into a ball. Melissa was consoling her desperately. Anita's lifeless body sat across the room, almost taunting Hayden, a reminder of what she made happen, regardless of her intentions. Melissa was offering words of comfort, but all Hayden could hear was herself crying. Nothing else mattered, she'd seen that killing someone could change you, but never realised quite how soul-destroying it felt. Parrish finally woke up after being knocked out by Anita, astonished and confused by the sight he was greeted by.  
"What have I missed?" he queried, startled.

Keeping an eye out in the hope that a rescue might be on its way, Malia was remaining optimistic.  
"What did Lydia say?" Malia asked Isaac.  
"She said she'd sort something. She normally does, I didn't ask anything else" Isaac explained.  
"Well, you should have. Now we have no idea if they're gonna help us or not. They could be dead already in the warehouse and we're none the wiser" Malia was grouchy.  
"Hey, calm down. We weren't to know this would happen. We'll be alright, just you wait and see. Then I can take you on a proper date" Isaac promised.  
"A proper date?" Malia seemed almost confused, "I'm no good at them."  
"Neither am I actually" Isaac re-evaluated, "We can be terrible together." They both laughed.  
"Are they always this soppy?" Brett asked Liam as they watched from the sidelines. The moment was interrupted as two car lights were visible in the distance, and making their way towards the group. Isaac moved to the front of their small mountain ash cell, with his hand covering his eyes from the bright lights amongst the dark sky. As the car approached, it became clear. Isaac breathed a sigh of relief as he saw Stiles' jeep arriving.  
"They're here" he announced. The lights went out and car doors were opened and closed before four figures arrived.  
"I told you to keep out of trouble" came a familiar voice. It was Argent, and Isaac smiled.  
"I guess I just can't help myself" he joked. Argent used his foot to break the barrier, and the group were free once again.  
"Hey, this is all well and good, but I can't help noticing that there's five still missing" Stiles pondered.  
"Inside" Liam stated. The large group all headed inside, while Argent and Stilinski primed their guns.

Crackle crackle crackle. Twigs were being snapped at a rapid pace as the dark figure continued to rapidly make its way through the woods of Beacon Hills. It reaches the peak of the forest, which overlooks the town. It stopped, and took in the sights for a second. The figure was Chad. He looked at his hands, now normal and human. He was excited to take his plan down to the main town, but he wasn't done yet. There was one location left to visit beforehand, and it wasn't an easy one to find…

Liam led the way down to the basement of the warehouse. There he was greeted by Maddie, tending to an almost lifeless Scott who was slouched over her lap on the floor. Mason and Corey were tending to Casey, while Shane stood between them, gormless and unsure of what to do.

"What's happened?" Liam asked, as others began to flood in.  
"Scott, can you hear me?" Argent rushed to his side. Scott gave a subtle nod, using as few muscles as possible. Argent continued, turning around to face Stilinski, "We need to get them out of here." Argent lifted Scott up and carried him over his shoulder, while Stilinski did the same to Casey.  
"Let's get them to the hospital" Stilinski suggested.  
"You can't" Liam interrupted, "Hayden's there, they had Anita to deal with. That's the last place these two should be going right now."  
"Any news from her?" Mason asked.  
"Not a word. I better get down there and check she's alright" Liam decided.  
"I'll come with you" Brett suggested, "I'm not letting you out of my sight." The duo left, while Stiles decided to take charge of the situation.  
"Alright, take them both to the animal clinic. There's a whole book with werehyena information there, do some research" Stiles commanded his father.  
"And what if there's nothing? What do we do then, Stiles?" Stilinski queried.  
"I…don't know. I'll think of something" Stiles was honest. He was totally stumped as to exactly what he wanted to do. However, this was almost reassuring for him. Time and time again, Stiles had managed to bluff his way out of difficult situations. It was his speciality. So when he was faced with danger and had no plan, he saw it as a good thing in a way.  
"Maddie and Malia, you help them out" he continued, delegating jobs, "The rest of us, we've got to scour Beacon Hills. He won't have gone far, he was here for a specific reason."  
"I'll go too" Isaac interrupted.  
"Oh no you don't, scarf boy. I need you and your werewolfness with me" Stiles justified. Isaac turned back to Malia.  
"I'll see you when this is all over" he said, before kissing her on the lips. Malia closed her eyes in the moment. Maddie stood next to them, folding her arms, waiting to leave. They broke the kiss, smiled at each other, and reluctantly let go of each other's hands.

Unbeknownst to Stiles, Lydia had totally zoned out in the corner of the room. She found herself walking through the Beacon Hills preserve in the dead of night. There wasn't a sound to be heard, apart from the leaves rustling as she began to walk. One foot went in front of the other, as Lydia walked somewhere. It could've been anywhere, she didn't have a clue; her feet were moving themselves subconsciously. Twigs cracked and leaves blew with the gentle summer night breeze. Lydia was alone, and she knew it. She felt terrified, as she approached a clearing in the trees. An all too familiar clearing. In front of her was a giant tree stump. It was the Nemeton. All of a sudden, she heard her name being called.  
"Lydia" it called. She put her hands to her ears, to block it out, but the name calling got louder. "Lydia" it repeated. Lydia blinked, and in front of her was Stiles.  
"Stiles" she stated.  
"Yup, that's me" he smiled in return.  
"I saw it" she ambiguously revealed.  
"You saw what?"  
"The Nemeton." At this point, the only people left were Stiles, Isaac and Shane. They made eye contact with each other, knowing exactly where their next destination would be.

"I think you should call Liam" Melissa softly suggested to Hayden.  
"I can't face him" she cried.  
"You're gonna have to eventually" Melissa continued. They were still sat on the floor of the morgue, with Melissa wrapping her arms around Hayden, embracing her.  
"Hayden!" came a voice as the doors burst open. It was Liam. He stopped in his tracks when he saw his girlfriend in tears on the floor. Melissa gently stood up as Hayden avoided eye contact. She escorted Liam back outside to have a word with him. When the door was shut, she began.  
"We've had a little…accident" Melissa confessed, "With that werewolf girl, Anita."  
"What's happened?" Liam all of a sudden felt very anxious.  
"She's…dead" Melissa revealed, with regret in her voice. Liam began to walk back into the morgue.  
"Liam, wait!" Melissa tried to intervene but he kept on walking.  
"Let him go" Brett suggested to Melissa. He'd been listening and taking the information in.

Inside the room, Liam scouted around. Hayden noticed his arrival and still refused to make eye contact. However, Liam wasn't looking for her. He finally spotted what he was looking for – slumped on the floor at the opposite end of the room. It was Anita's lifeless body. He simply looked at her, feeling empty inside. After a moment, he stood up and sat himself down next to Hayden.  
"Look at me" he said. Hayden ignored him, wiping away her tears with a tissue Melissa lent her.  
"Hayden, look at me" Liam repeated, more firmly this time but still remaining calm. Hayden turned around, trying and failing to compose herself.  
"Come here" Liam said as he put his arm around her, and consoled his girlfriend.

Outside the room, Melissa and Brett were sat in anticipation. Parrish was next to them, holding an ice pack to his head that Melissa had fetched for him.  
"Well, it's quiet in there" Brett optimistically stated.  
"Is that good or bad?" Melissa was sceptical. A moment passed, before she turned to him, "You're fond of him, aren't you?"  
"I guess you could say we have a love/hate relationship" Brett confessed, "He's a loose cannon and a total headcase at times, but he can't help that."  
"IED's a tough thing to live with" Melissa agreed, "But I'd say he's found his anchor in her. She's broken right now."  
"We've all done bad things in our lives. It's pretty hard to keep your slate clean in a supernatural world" Brett added.  
"Scott's managed it" Melissa said, almost bragging.  
"Scott's one of a kind, we all wish we were like him" Brett laughed. Brett noticed a bite mark on Melissa's arm. "Did she bite you?"  
"Yeah, but it's alright though isn't it? Cause she's not an alpha" Melissa hoped.  
"As far as I know, yeah. I'd get it checked out later anyway, to be on the safe side" Brett said with a friendly smile.  
"At least you've not got concussion" Parrish joked.

The atmosphere at the animal clinic was chaotic as the central desk was cleared and both Scott and Casey's bodies were placed on it. Deaton was working late and immediately took a look at the duo.  
"Gentlemen if you could cut open their shirts with the scissors to your left, that would be much appreciated" Deaton ordered, "Ladies, the Bestiary is at the end of the desk there. There's no time to waste, any information would be valuable." Malia and Maddie looked at each other, both concerned at having to work with one another, but they got to work at rapid speed. Deaton began to examine their bodies.  
"Breathing is normal, but skin looks exceptionally dry, it looks like they're dehydrated. All the symptoms seem to be there, but this is extreme" Deaton reported on his findings, "However, Casey seems to have noticeably deteriorated further than Scott." He turned his attention directly to Casey.  
"Casey, if you can hear me, I need you to summon all of your strength and show me your wolf eyes" Deaton instructed. Casey looked like he was struggling, forcing every inch of energy to his eyes, and sure enough, they glowed. There was a startling difference, however, as instead of the deep red colour of an alpha, it now displayed the bright yellow of a beta.  
"Chad's not just taken his power, but his status too. Scott's safe because he's a true alpha but Casey has fallen back to being a beta" Deaton explained.  
"Look doc, is there anything you can do?" Stilinski asked.  
"I could try and hydrate them, but that's all right now, unless the girls can find anything of note in the Bestiary" Deaton had hope in his voice.

"No pressure then" Malia commented under her breath, from the other end of the room. She focused back to the translations.  
"This is really difficult" Maddie complained, "This stupid phone won't do what I want!"  
"Is that what you're used to? People doing what you want?" Malia snarled.  
"Look sweetie, I don't know what your problem is, but there are far bigger issues at hand" Maddie retaliated, keeping the chat hush still.  
"I hate to say it but you're right. We've got to save them" Malia looked at Scott in despair.  
"I guess dying's a valid excuse for him to miss our date" Maddie joked, of Scott.  
"You can't be serious" Malia missed the joke, already short-tempered.  
"Relax, it's humour. I can't help trying to lighten the mood. I'm not all bad you know" Maddie smiled.  
"I guess Isaac saw something in you" Malia contemplated.  
"And he sees something in you too. I trust him, that was my biggest mistake before and I won't let it happen again. He's still a friend of mine" Maddie explained.  
"I get it. I guess I'm just not used to human interaction" Malia confessed. The two shared a smile for a moment, before getting back to work.

Separate from the rest of the group, Mason and Corey were prowling through the streets of Beacon Hills, in search for Chad.  
"Do you think Scott will make it?" Corey asked.  
"He always pulls through. He's strong enough to overcome this" Mason had faith.  
"His luck's gotta run out at some point though, right?" Corey was less optimistic.  
"Liam's never doubted him, I guess I have no reason to either. We'll all make it through this" Mason smiled, before leaning in to kiss Corey. The moment was ruined however, when they heard a deep growl coming from nearby…

Phone lights guiding them, Stiles led the rest of the group through the Beacon Hills forests. They knew exactly what they were looking for, but the Nemeton wasn't easy to find. It would only allow you to find it if it wanted to.  
"Which way, Lydia?" Stiles asked.  
"I don't know, I'm a banshee, not a Sat Nav" she remarked.  
"Alright, just askin'" Stiles flippantly replied.  
"This is a waste of time, we should be out there looking for Chad, not some stupid cut down tree" Shane moaned.  
"Look, if you're gonna whine, then you might as well leave us to it. Trust us or find your own way out of this mess" Isaac lost his temper at Shane.  
"We wouldn't be in this mess if Casey hadn't faked his own death, we could've worked it out like adults" Shane responded.  
"When has life ever been that simple?" Isaac yelled.  
"Well it'd be a hell of a lot simpler if I was still human. Look at me, a werehyena against my own will. My anger, my rage, I've got to control it because some idiot took away my humanity" Shane spilled out all of his emotions. Isaac calmed down, looking a little ashamed of himself.  
"It's alright" Isaac comforted, in a much quieter tone of voice, "Scott will teach you control. He's the best, trust me."  
"If we make it out of this alive, that is" Shane added.  
"Look, as nice as this counselling session is, can we please get a move on?" Stiles interrupted.  
"Careful, he'll go all Nogitsuné on us" Isaac laughed to Shane.  
"What did you say?" Stiles asked.  
"Nothing" Isaac grinned.  
Ring ring! The sound of Lydia's phone went off – it was Mason.  
"What?" Lydia rudely answered the phone, after it interrupted her train of thought.  
"We've, err, found Chad" Mason whispered. Stiles took the phone out of Lydia's hands.  
"Get him to the Nemeton, now!" Stiles ordered.  
"Where's the Nemeton?" Mason asked, with a tone of fear in his voice.  
"We don't know, just bring him to the forest, we'll find it eventually" Stiles said, before snapping down the phone.

Mason and Corey wasted no time in running towards the woods. Out of the bushes came Chad, in werehyena form. His orange face and fans was a sight to behold, and the dangerous red glow in his eyes made him all the more fearsome. As they ran, Corey grabbed Mason's hand and they turned invisible together.  
"You think your silly little invisibility power is gonna work against me?" Chad shouted, threatening as he began to catch up with them. They picked up the pace, afraid of being caught.

"A-ha!" Maddie exclaimed. She had a big grin on her face as she held her phone out to Deaton.  
"What does it say?" Malia asked.  
"It's a possible solution" Deaton told them.  
"I mean it's not all good news" Maddie revealed, before reciting from the translation, "the abomination possesses the combined strength of every supernatural it has killed. It can transform at will and when it reaches its maximum, it will permanently shift into a new form."  
"What new form? It'd help if it was a little less vague" Argent picked out flaws in the information.  
"I don't know, it doesn't say, but at least we know what we're up against" Maddie responded.  
"But we can stop it?" Malia wanted to know more.  
"You can, but first, you need to get to the Nemeton" Deaton said.

The glow of Isaac's phone light wasn't as revealing as he'd hoped. He'd never expected to want to see a giant tree stump as much as this, but he trusted in Lydia's instincts. He only wished they'd given them a clearer picture of where to go.  
"Are we nearly there yet?" Isaac asked.  
"I…I think so" Lydia replied.  
"Guys" Shane called from behind. He was stood looking to his right, and sure enough, there was the clearing for the Nemeton. They glanced at each other before stepping through the clearing and walking towards it.  
"Now what?" Stiles asked. They were interrupted by the screeching of car breaks, as Malia's car pulled up. She and Maddie wasted on time in getting out of the car, and they each assisted one of Scott and Casey.  
"Did you find anything?" Isaac enquired.  
"Yup, we might be able to solve this" Malia replied, "Now give us a hand!" Isaac and Shane assisted in helping Scott and Casey towards the Nemeton. They were placed lying down on the stump.  
"OK, what happens now?" Lydia was bemused.  
"Now for the tricky part" Maddie responded.

"Why didn't you want to talk to me?" Liam asked Hayden.  
"I didn't want you to think bad of me" Hayden revealed. Liam's heart felt heavy. He didn't want to cry in this moment, because he wanted to be Hayden's rock, but he couldn't stop a tear slipping down his cheek and onto the floor.  
"I could never think badly of you" he responded, fighting back his emotions, "You could've killed her in cold blood, I'd still have loved you."  
"You mean it?" Hayden was still upset but it was a comfort to know that Liam was on her side.  
"Of course" he assured her, and their lips met for a kiss.  
"Alright you two" Melissa burst in, ruining the moment, "We've gotta tidy up. Liam, if you wouldn't mind escorting the lady out. Deputy, Brett, you're helpin' me."  
"This is against the law you know" Parrish jokingly threatened.  
"Well arrest me" Melissa teased. Parrish smiled and he followed Melissa towards Anita's body, with Brett in tow. Liam and Hayden left the room and sat outside. She rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes, as if she was about to sleep.  
"It won't go away, you know" Liam told her, "Not yet, that is."  
"What do you mean?" she asked, opening her eyes again.  
"Stiles told me, it eats away at you, but sometimes, it's like a balancing beam" Liam tried to explain.  
"You're not making any sense" Hayden told him.  
"I mean that if you do something good, which saves a life, it might counteract the life you, you know" Liam tailed off, unsure of the right expression to use.  
"Yeah, I know" Hayden looked deep in thought, as she snuggled back into Liam's arms and closed her eyes once again.

Maddie sat on the Nemeton, next to Scott. She looked into his closed eyes. He was sleeping, not unconscious, but he looked dead for all the energy he had in him. Maddie put her hand in his, and whispered to him, "Please pull through Scott." The others were stood waiting, knowing exactly what was coming, but not when it was due to arrive.  
"They're coming!" Isaac announced, using his wolf hearing to keep a listen out. All of a sudden, Mason and Corey came into view, and just a few metres behind, was werehyena Chad.  
"What a fantastic turnout" Chad remarked as he stopped running, seeing the huge crowd of people there, "I'd advise you not to fight off the inevitable and let me access that godforsaken stump." To Chad's surprise, the group just stepped aside. Mason and Corey looked on, baffled, but the others seemed to know what they were doing. They didn't try to stop Chad, who strolled up onto the top of the Nemeton, with Scott and Casey at his feet.  
"Be witnesses to the creation of the greatest creature to have ever lived" Chad announced, as if he were ticking off a list of clichés to use. He dug his claws into the Nemeton, and the ground began to rumble.  
"What's he doing?" Corey yelled over the noise.  
"Stealing the power of the Nemeton" Lydia responded, "It lost most of its power when it was cut down but nevertheless, it's still active and it could turn him into…"  
"The Abomination" Malia completed the sentence, "We read about it in the Bestiary." They all focused their attention on Chad, who was shrieking a victory shriek. However, what Chad failed to notice, was that two other hands were dug into the stump at the same time. Scott and Casey, whilst sleeping, had their claws sunk into the powerful tree, creating a transaction. Scott's eyes bolted open, with his bold red alpha eyes immediately on show. He sat up and gave Casey a hand, before standing around to face Chad.  
"I bet you didn't see that one coming" Casey remarked.  
"The power of a transaction at the Nemeton. Your power went straight back to us" Scott revealed. Chad dropped to the floor, his claws were still positioned deep into the wood. He tried to yank them out, but he couldn't.  
"What's happening to me?" Chad shouted over the rumbling noise.  
"The transaction's still going, the Nemeton is taking all of your power" Isaac told him.  
"You can't do this!" he tried once again to pull his claws out, and with a huge yank, he was free from the Nemeton. However, his claws were still left in – he allowed them to be ripped off his fingers instead.  
"You can't stop me that easily, I've still got the power of werewolves, werehyenas and werecoyotes, I can take you all on any day" Chad threatened as he was about to step down from the stump.  
"No!" came a voice from the back of the group. Shane came hurtling through, pouncing on top of Chad. He pinned him down onto the trunk and pushed the claws of his other hand into the Nemeton.  
"You'd do this, to save them?" Chad asked Shane.  
"You could only dream of being the people they are" Shane retorted, "You took my humanity, and now I'm taking something back." His hand was still pressed firmly on top of Chad's, holding his body down. Chad bit into Shane's arm, and refused to let go. While he did this, to the shock of everyone else, Chad began to melt into the Nemeton, as his power was absorbed entirely. The fact that Chad's teeth were biting into Shane's arm saw the melting continue, as Shane's body drooped away and was sucked into the Nemeton too. The ground stopped shaking and order seemed to be restored, as the pack composed themselves. Scott took a deep breath, exhilarated and exhausted. Casey gave him a huge hug, before Maddie flung herself at him, overjoyed.

 **The next morning…**

Beep beep! Beep beep! Scott's alarm clock went off as he woke up in his own bed.  
"How's my little alpha this morning?" Melissa called from the doorway.  
"What…what time is it?" Scott asked.  
"10:30, I hope your sleeping pattern isn't gonna get too messed up this summer mister, you can't forget you've got college in a couple of months" Melissa nagged.  
"Alright mom, alright!" Scott wasn't in the mood for nagging first thing.  
"Oh by the way, you've got visitors downstairs" Melissa added before leaving the room. Scott picked up a top from his cupboard and quickly zipped up a pair of trousers before heading downstairs. He was shocked to see the living room so packed with his friends – Stiles, Malia, Lydia, Isaac, Maddie, Casey, Liam, Mason and Corey were all there.  
"What's the occasion?" Scott asked.  
"It's summer, did you forget?" Liam responded.  
"So let's get this bubbly flowing!" Stiles was ready to celebrate.  
"I hope that's not alcohol!" Melissa shouted from the kitchen.  
"It's just pop, mom" Scott lied, laughing.

The music was playing and the party was underway in Scott's living room. It might have been a sunny day but the weather was atrocious, so they had to stay indoors.  
"Wanna dance?" Malia asked him, 10 minutes into the party.  
"It's not really my thing" Isaac awkwardly responded. Malia rolled her eyes and pulled him up to dance with her.  
"So where are you taking me on our date?" Malia asked, with a twinkle in her eye.

Sat together with a glass each, Liam, Mason and Corey were discussing the events of the past few days.  
"Has the Sheriff let you off now then?" Mason asked Liam.  
"Yeah, I'm off the hook. Which is great as I didn't really fancy doing time for murder" Liam joked. Mason and Corey laughed, before the former diverted his attention to Hayden.  
"Is she alright?" Mason asked ambiguously, although Liam knew exactly who he meant.  
"She's fine, just about. She's a bit worried about Scott finding out" Liam replied.  
"Aren't you gonna tell him?" Corey queried.  
"What Scott doesn't know won't hurt him" Liam reluctantly said, taking a glance at his alpha just over the room.

Scott was too pre-occupied to notice Liam's glance, as Maddie was serenading him by dancing to the music.  
"You know you'll be missing out on more of this if you don't turn up to that date" Maddie commented.  
"I'll turn up, I promise! When have I let you down before?" Scott smiled.  
"Prove it" Maddie taunted.  
"What?" Scott was confused.  
"Prove you won't let me down. Kiss me" she ordered.  
"Ayy, come on Scotty boy, don't let the side down" Stiles commented. Scott put a finger on Stiles' lips to shut him up, while he moved his own lips onto Maddie's, sharing the moment together. He moved his hand from Stiles to Maddie's cheek. They broke the kiss, and smiled at each other.  
"I mean I trusted you all along but that was worth it" Maddie said. They both laughed, Scott felt slightly embarrassed but he certainly liked her. They both sat on the sofa, next to Casey.  
"What's next for you guys?" Scott asked, as Isaac and Malia pulled up a chair too.  
"Err" Casey responded. Maddie and Isaac looked at each other, unsure of their answers.  
"I was gonna stop at Argent's for a while, I didn't really plan to go back to San Francisco" Isaac revealed.  
"I guess I need to speak to my family, they still think I'm dead" Casey reflected, "But I'm not an alpha now. It's time for a fresh start, and I need a new pack. I mean, we've all got college in September, but Beacon Hills is where I belong now."  
"Me too" Maddie smiled.  
"I'll drink to that" Scott raised his glass and clinked it with the others in the group.

Stiles walked away to join Lydia, who was sat on the sidelines.  
"Hey, what's up?" he asked her.  
"I don't know, there's something not quite right" Lydia responded.  
"You mean he's not actually gone? Please tell me Chad's definitely gone" Stiles began to panic.  
"Calm down, Chad's gone, I felt it when he got, err, absorbed. This is something else, something new" Lydia said. At that precise moment, Lydia stood up and began walking towards the door. She pushed down the door handle and opened it wide, before letting out a huge scream. Scott and Stiles ran to see what was at the door, and they saw a wolf, with crystal blue eyes – that of a beta who has taken an innocent life. They were shocked and unsure of what to do, but were even more surprised when it morphed from wolf to human form. There stood a naked teenage boy, with long dark hair, and nothing to protect his dignity. He was dripping wet as a result of the rain.  
"I'm Thomas, and I need to see Scott McCall" he revealed. Scott was baffled and totally speechless.


End file.
